An American Boy In Tokyo
by Darquarius
Summary: A story of love and adventure. When a young man with a past affinity to Sailor Moon's world wakes up and finds himself mystically transported into the anime, he finds that his connections to that world run deeper than he ever thought possible. R&R plz.
1. Prologue

"_We came as quickly as we could, Doctor, is Alex going to be okay?"_ My mother asked as she and my father walked briskly, almost running down the corridor alongside an elderly man in a white lab coat.

"_Slow down, just slow down a moment, Mrs. Simpleton, Mr. Simpleton; Alex is just fine, well, physically, anyway." _The Doctor replied with a sort of confused smile on his face.

"_Whoa, Doc, what do you mean… physically?" _My father asked, a concerned expression crossing his face as he reached out and held his hand up to the doctor as if halting him in his tracks.

"_Well, when he came, by way of ambulance, his apparent symptoms were that of someone who'd just been crushed under a mountain of rocks. But upon examination, we found absolutely nothing physically wrong with him at all. His skeletal structure is perfect, muscular tissue was extremely tensed and spasming, but otherwise perfectly fine. We even tried a placebo pain killer, which is to say…" _The doctor was cut off by my mother who carried an irritated tone in her voice.

"…_a fake shot, okay, moving on, what's wrong with my son?"_

"_Well, Mrs. Simpleton, frankly, your son seems to have deluded himself into believing that he was injured, and extremely badly too. Some of my case studies from med school exhibited what we call psychotropic physiological stress disorder, which, in layman's terms means that, the patient's belief that he's in pain is so great that his body actually buys the deception and the portion of the brain which allows us to feel pain kicks into a mode of overdrive that becomes difficult to shut off. Pain killers don't work; pressure points don't work; only a psychotropic drug will overcome the quote, unquote: pain."_

"_So… Alex believed himself into the ER by way of ambulance?" _My father asked, his voice ridden with disbelief and a sense of absurdity, to which my mother replied with a glare of her own disbelief at his tone.

"_Sure seems that way. We tried small doses of pain killers to no effect, we tried the placebo pain killer, and then we tried a simple sedative. Nothing except the sedative worked." _The doctor replied with a sigh._ "My honest, professional opinion is that you make a follow up with a psychiatric evaluator, who will be able to better diagnose the cause, and then come up with a treatment plan."_ That was the last day of my young life, as far as I can recall. My mother being a state representative, and my father being a well known car salesman in the area, my life ended that day. After all, highly public people like them can't very well have a "troubled child" like me around and maintain their prestigious careers, right? Well, right or wrong, that's how they saw it.

From that day forward, for two years and some change, I had to have a hospice change my clothes and turn my drug ridden, comatose body over in bed so I wouldn't get bed sores. They kept me so heavily medicated that it hurt to even think. What brought it on? Heh, would you believe that it was an anime? A simple little cartoon that I believed in so much, that it damn near killed me. I'd spent more than five hundred THOUSAND dollars on collectables, custom replicas, and other paraphernalia. I'd watched every episode, twice, and some of them three times. I owned every manga, I had every action figure, every doll, I was arguably the biggest fan of the show in history. But I hated Sailor Moon for what that show did to me. I blamed it for everything that went wrong in my life after that day. If I'd known then what I know now though… well, that road less traveled.

Anyway, after I was cleared, I tested out of high school and entered college early. By my eighteenth birthday, I had already graduated from three correspondence courses with a 4.0 grade point average in each and a master's degree to hang on my wall for each. I began working for myself, inventing new technologies for everyday use by everyday people, things like a completely programmable oven and range that would allow the user to program specific temperatures at specific times for specific durations. Sounds overly complicated doesn't it? For most it is, but for the handicapped and disabled? It's another step towards independence. 'The Simple Stove' was an instant success and made me a small fortune which I then turned around and applied towards further inventions. I had started work on actual space aged laser weaponry at one point… but after a test fire burned a hole through my house, the backyard fence, and the neighbor's dog… well, that project was scrapped.

So, I went back to my roots and set to work on what would be my greatest invention of all time: A car engine that ran solely on organic and inexpensive fluids. Rubbing Alcohol was used for the fuel, processed vegetable oil was used for lubrication, and liquid nitrogen was used for the liquid cooling systems. The project was lofty, I know that from the off, but it was the kind of achievement that made a man go down in history. Not that I really cared much for fortune or fame, every time my name was mentioned in the newspaper it was dragged through all seven circles of libel hell, I guess I just wanted to prove to my parents that I wasn't a broken child.

Ever since my episode, they'd never looked at me as a son. My mother didn't speak to me at all and refused to even say my name. When she spoke to my father about me, I was referred to as 'the boy' or 'THAT boy' if she was angry. My father was better about it, but not by much. He spoke to me and called me by name, but refused to show any signs of affection, treating me more like a room mate and eventually a friend, but never again was I 'his son'. It hurt, a lot. And admittedly, I just wanted it to all go away more times than I could count. Still, they never pushed me out of the home, and I stuck around, hoping that I'd eventually earn their love back, but when my 'Simple Stove' and its success didn't do the trick… I began losing hope. This car was my last chance for redemption in my eyes; so naturally, I poured my heart and soul into it.

I never saw the ensuing accident coming, much less the results of said accident…


	2. Contracts and Accidents

Welcome to my basement home. It was a full apartment down there, after my renovations took place. When I turned eighteen and began paying rent, I was allowed to install a second kitchen, bathroom, and generally allocate the space as I saw fit to serve my purposes. So I built a bedroom, a storage room, a bathroom, and then a combination kitchen/workshop where my creations would be well… created. All in all, it was comfortable enough for me.

On the day everything started going down hill, I remember it clearly, I'd been in my workshop sucking down Mountain Dew through one of those can-holding-sports helmets while working on my miniature engine model. The parts were extremely expensive, but considering the volatile nature of the fuel, coolants, and lubricants, I thought it best to make a down scaled model for testing purposes. In any case, I was in the process of piecing the finished product together when my phone rang. Stopping my work with a sigh, I picked it up and answered.

"Hello, Simpleton residence, Alex speaking." I said, before adjusting my glasses and taking another drink through the straw.

"Hey, Alex, there's someone up here looking for you. A… Special Agent Jackson?" He said. I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"Probably another government yes man looking for a defense contract, I'll be up in a minute." I hung up the phone and looked around the workshop with a sigh. The lab table was covered with various diagrams, schematics, and components for the project; my computer was running tests on the coding for the computer operating system that would run the vehicle's inner diagnostics; the bins and drawers on my wall were in a state of disarray; but the kitchen area was nearly immaculate, save the trash can which was filled with various Chinese take out boxes and disposable chop sticks. Removing the helmet and washing my hands, I headed upstairs at a casual pace. Walking around the reinforced lab wall and turning to the first door on the left as I came to it. Behind the stained balsa wood door was the khaki brown colored carpet of the stairs leading into the upper levels of the house. Pausing for only a short moment to make sure that I wasn't completely unsightly, I opened the door and walked up the stairs, opening the door at the top as well.

The décor up here was warmer and more homely than my 'dungeon' style décor down in the basement. The same khaki-tan carpet covered the living room (which was to my right), the dining room (to my left), and dad's office floor. The kitchen and bathroom were floored with a ceramic tile that was only a shade or two away from the carpet. The white, leather furniture was well broken and extremely comfortable as well. The end and coffee tables of the living room were lightly stained wood with clear glass panels for the primary surfaces and the two lamps in the living room had that rustic, antiquity look to them along with thick, canvas lamp shades to provide soft lighting in the evening hours. The front door was a solid oak door with a single top-half window that was masked from prying eyes by a white, sheer, curtain and a valance that was the same shade of beige as the rest of the house.

I moved to the front door, nodding a hello to my mother who just glanced at me for a moment before deciding that her novel was more worthy of her attention and resumed reading with a sigh. I opened the door and found my father on the porch with a large African-American wearing a black three piece suit and a pair of sunglasses.

"Ah, here he is! Agent Jackson, this is my son Alex Simpleton. Alex, this Special Agent Jackson of the Central Intelligence Agency." My father, a middle aged business-man with thinning brown hair, blue eyes, and thin, wire-framed spectacles that matched my own almost perfectly, was about as typical looking as one might expect of his type. He motioned towards me for introduction purposes before moving his arm back to Agent Jackson.

"It's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance, Mr. Simpleton." Agent Jackson lifted a hand to shake and I expected, though his hand sorely dwarfed my own.

"Call me Alex, please. I'm much too young for titles, how about you?" I asked, smiling broadly at the slight humor and taking stock of the massive man whose hand I was shaking.

"Fair enough, call me Jackson." He replied without so much as a twitch at the corners of his mouth. "In any case, I'm a little short on time today so I'll make this quick. We're big fans of your work up to this point, and we'd like to offer you an invitation that we don't give out often. The agency has a department that specializes in military product development, we're not just talking weapons, we're talking some of the kinds of technology that you see your local boys in blue wearing on the beat as well. What we'd like you to consider, is an offer to collaborate as a freelance engineer on a very specific project that's been giving us some issues lately." Jackson finished. I cocked an eyebrow and took a suspicious expression to my face for a moment.

"What kind of project are we talking about here? I've already turned down the D.O.D. for a contract, you ARE aware of that, right?" I asked. Jackson nodded in response.

"Exactly why you were selected for this opportunity, Alex. The program in question is one meant to save lives, not take them. A mind and talent as keen as yours would be an extremely valuable asset on the program, and we're only asking you to consider the offer for now. If you agree to that much, we'll get the details to you at our earliest opportunity, shouldn't be longer than four or five days, most likely two or three." He shrugged lightly.

"I can still opt out after reviewing the details?" I asked.

"Absolutely, but we will have to discuss some paperwork I'd need you to fill out today, including what's commonly known as a 'gag order', which basically means that you're not allowed to discuss the program in any way, shape, or form under penalty of the law."

"Double crossing the CIA? I think legal prosecution would be the least of my worries." I chuckled a bit at the joke Jackson did finally crack a half grin on that note.

"Well, shall we?" He asked.

"Alright, step into my office." My dad said motioning the two of us inside. We did indeed step into the house and go into my father's office room, closing the door behind us before taking our seats. Jackson produced a small mountain of paperwork form his metal briefcase and stacked them neatly on the desk. He explained each of them as he handed them over and I noticed the signet ring on his finger. It looked like the CIA emblem, but something was off about it. Instead of an eagle's head on top of the shield, it was a sword hilt. We continued through the paperwork and I examined it thoroughly, asking my father to clarify certain legal phrases, as he was accustomed to dealing with contracts and the jargon contained therein. After an hour or so, we had finished up and Jackson rose to his feet with a sigh and the straightening of his jacket and neck tie.

"Well, it was pleasure to have met you, Alex, Roy." He shook our hands in turn. "You'll have a briefcase delivered soon with copies of this contract and the details. It hardly needs said, Alex, but the contents of that brief case are for your eyes only. Here," Jackson handed me a small key. "This key will unlock the case, lose it, and you lose the contract, understood?"

"Crystal Clear, Jackson." I replied pulling my wallet out and opening it up, slipping the key inside.

"After you receive the case, you will have to sign for it, you'll have five business days to contact us with a definitive answer. No contact indicates that your answer is no and I'll be back to pick up the case. You're to respond to no one but me in these dealings, understood?"

"Of course." I answered with another nod. Though, by this point, I was beginning to feel a bit of the pressure. Maybe this was all just protocol for the agency, but it was beginning to feel like I was embarking on a top secret mission or some similar 'James Bond' type adventure.

"Alright, thank you for your hospitality, Roy, and I'll be in touch." He nodded a farewell and then left, closing the door behind him and leaving my father and I to wonder exactly what I was getting myself into.

That night, I went through and finished up what I could on the engine design before putting it away and straightening up my lab table and workshop. I woke up the next morning and went upstairs to ask dad about something, but found a note instead that indicated that my parents had left that morning for a family vacation and would be gone for no less than two weeks. I hated it when they used that word. Mainly because it reminded me of the fact that they didn't consider me to be part of the family anymore, and without grandparents or aunts and uncles to contest the matter, there was very little I could do about it. But fine, if that's how they wanted to play it; that was just fine.

I went back downstairs, the question in mind completely forgotten by this point, and went into my storage room. Inside the room were several large, steel cabinets. Each of them was black with a red 'X' painted on the front of them. My parents had locked those doors a long time ago to seal my Sailor Moon collectables away from me. I didn't care anymore though, so I went into my lab and pulled a ball peen hammer off the wall, clutching it tightly and walking back into the room. One by one the flimsy locking handles of the cabinets were blasted off the doors and clattered across the floor as I struck them as hard as I could.

I knew what I was doing. If I opened those cabinets, it meant that my parents would likely write me off completely, but what did I care? Here I'd been working my butt off to show them how much I'd improved, and how worthy I was of being part of their family… even signing a contract with a political organization, which my mother should respect the hell out of… and none of it mattered. So, if none of it mattered, why should I care? I pull open the first cabinet and my scowl and anger were shattered instantly by the nostalgia of its contents. Boxes of action figures and posable figurines met my gaze and instantly the 'moon mania' settled back into place as though it had never left. You can imagine that the next several hours were spent placing the various figures in various positions around my apartment, displaying them prominently. The next box I pulled out was my poster collection. The posters and wall scrolls were also strategically placed, though most of them ended up adorning my bedroom walls.

Finally, my notebooks, manga, and novels were placed on the bookshelves in my storage room, which had suddenly become my personal shrine to the series my parents hated so much. Soon, all too soon, the sun was setting and I was just finishing things up. Anyone looking into my apartment now would assume a thirteen year old girl lived there, but the apartment's atmosphere felt so much brighter and happy than it had in a long time. After ordering my daily take out, picking it up, and devouring it, I decided that I should at least do –something- productive, and I remembered that Miss Huggbee down the street had once asked if I could come up with a good fertilizer formula for her award winning garden. Pulling my chemistry gear out, I set about the task.

Most chemical fertilizers had a common theme in terms of mixture components and ratios, so I did a little research. I went upstairs and pulled some grass samples from the sod in the backyard, and put them in window planters, lining them up on the lab table. I then mixed the ingredients together in several different beakers, marking the mixture ratios on each and applying each to a different sample of sod. Then it came time to mix the last batch, and immediately upon finishing the mixture a gas cloud began pouring out of the bottle and filling the room, and I knew, too little too late, that I'd done messed it up.

I quickly sat the beaker down on the lab table and covered my mouth and nose with my shirt, batting at the fumes to try and keep them away from my face. I then darted from the room and headed for the stairs… but I didn't make it. The fumes were so overpowering that I fell unconscious only a few steps away from the doorway to the room and crashed to the ground.


	3. Awakened Dreams

When I came to, my mouth was dry, my stomach hurt, and I felt really weak. I remembered the experiment and looked back over my shoulder into the lab I had attempted to flee from, the grass samples had, all three, grown into tall, bushy weeds. My eyes widened for a moment and I immediately moved to stand up. Everything looked strangely different to me, although nothing apparent had changed. Everything was still in the same place it had been before I passed out. I wondered, for a moment, how long I had been unconscious, and if it was anywhere near as long as I'd suspected, why my parents hadn't at least checked to see if I was still down here. But before I could wonder about much else, my stomach growled more loudly than I ever heard it growl before.

"Must be hungry, yeah..." I though, walking towards my little kitchenette section in my bedroom. "...Food sounds good." I noticed that everything around me had the same weird look to it, I couldn't place what was wrong, it just looked strange. I walked over to my fridge and pulled the door open, then frowned as I closed it again. With all the take out I'd been ordering lately, I'd completely forgotten to restock my own food. Sighing in defeat, I looked at the stairwell again, I'd have to go raid Mom and Dad's fridge. They wouldn't like it, but I'd pay them for it, as I always did.

I groaned as I slowly made my way to the stairs and slowly walked up them. Had I been paying closer attention to my surroundings, I'd have noticed several things different at that point in time. For starters, the fifth and tenth stairs going up didn't creak as they usually did. I'd also have noticed the change in the carpet's color, pale yellow instead of the usual beige. Nope, my hunger was overpowering, I mean, it was downright ridiculous how hungry I was. I winced from the pain of a stomach cramp as I twisted the doorknob at the top of the stairs and promptly fell forward as it swung open as though pulled from the other side.

"Mr. Simpleton?" A deep voice asked.

"Ohhh, my stomach..." I groaned out for a moment, that is until the pain from hitting the floor kicked in. "Ohhh, my face..."

"Mr. Simpleton, Alex, are you alright? What's wrong?" The voice asked again. It sounded familiar but I couldn't waste the energy to figure out who it was, I needed food.

"Gas, Chemical, Food... Hungry..." I managed to get out.

"Chemical gas? Wait one moment, Alex." The voice charged down the stairs and looked around in the lab. I heard him browsing through my glass beakers before sighing loudly. "This is Jackson, Come in HQ. I'm on site, there was a chemical accident, from the looks of things it coincided with the change..." I tuned in on that and my eyes widened. The change? What change? Did he know what was going on and why everything looked so strange? I stood up and turned to face the stairwell, stopping suddenly when my eyes spotted the open window.

My house had been part of a housing development. It was a nice, high-dollar housing development, but a housing development none-the-less. Looking out the window now, though, I saw nothing across the street except rolling hills, painted clouds, and V-shaped... birds...

"Oh god..." I about choked on the words and my hunger was long forgotten. I looked down at my hands, outlines, I saw outlines. There was no arm hair, and my skin was evenly colored with even colored shading. "Oh GOD!" I yelled out, dashing for the upstairs bathroom.

"I'll have to get back to you, apparently he just found out." Jackson said into his blue tooth type headset before jogging back up the stairs and looking across the living room at my as I peered into the mirror. "Are you alright, Alex? What were you talking about a chemical spill?" I turned away from my now animated face and glared at the black man who was now just as animated as I was.

"YOU! What did you do to me?" I yelled. "You were talking about a change! Did you do this to me?" He arched an eyebrow and shook his head.

"Alex, come on..." He started to chide me, then it dawned on me.

"That ring! You're not CIA, but you have top secret clearance, you'd have known about my episodes..."

"Another reason you were chosen..." He started. My eyes widened and I cried out turning and punching the wall as hard as I could. However, I caught it at a wrong angle and heard a snap as the bone in my pinky finger snapped from hitting the corner of the door frame.

"OoooooOOWWWWW!" I cried out, clutching my hand. "No, this is a dream... I just need my medications... I still have some left, somewhere... and if not I can call the shrink and get more... no... can't call the shrink, they'll want to commit me again." I said quietly through deep breaths as I made my way to the kitchen to grab two popsicle sticks and the electrical tape.

"Alex, have you made a decision?" Jackson asked. I looked up at him with a dumbfounded look.

"A decision?" I asked. "On what?"

"The armor? The exo-skeleton?" He asked. The memories of reading through the briefcase's contents flooded through my mind.

"Oh right, that... Um... I think..." It then occurred to me, I had never even received the briefcase, let alone had time to read through it. "How do I remember reading it...?" I asked quietly to myself. I grunted for a moment as I taped up my pinky finger, pulling the break straight with a cry before tightening the tape and then wiping the tears of pain off of my face. "What the hell, it's only a dream, right?" I asked him, he made no response but his lips curled into a slight smile as his eyebrow arched high onto his forehead. "Sure, you've got yourself..."

"...an engineer, welcome aboard, Alex. I'd shake your hand, but..." He glanced at my awkwardly splinted pinky finger. "...well, your first equipment delivery will be here in two weeks, you can begin final construction at that point. We'll also be sending you a lap top computer to handle the coding, and it's files will contain full system specs on what we expect." He reached into his jacket and produced a folded, manilla envelope, setting it down on the coffee table. "This is an advance on your pay, we'll make similar installments each month until the project's completion, my business card is inside as well, call me if you need any further assistance."

"Right, right. Sure thing, Jackson." I said, pulling my head out of the fridge as I grabbed the components necessary to make myself a cold cut sandwich. "Thanks a lot, hey, refresh my memory, how much is this contract worth in total again?" I asked.

"Approximately two point five billion dollars, Alex. The point five is your total salary for completion." I grinned and nodded.

"Five hundred million? Sounds about right for a dream, alright, thanks Jackson. Peace out, I'm starving dude." I said as I sat the array of various lunch meats, veggies, condiments, and utensils on the counter. He arched his eyebrow again but then chuckled and shook his head with a sigh.

"Alright, Alex, we'll check back two weeks after delivery to see how progress is coming." He paused for a moment, looking perplexed for a moment before finishing with: "Um, peace out." And then walking to the door, closing it on his way out. I finished making my sandwich and scarfed it before grabbing a can of Mountain Dew and walking back into the living room, cracking open the envelope he'd left for me. Inside was a lot of money, I couldn't read it, but I knew it was a lot. Shrugging, I tossed it back on the table and plopped down on the couch, opening the can, and turning on the television. The face on the television was just as animated as I was, and I snickered for a moment, I understood him perfectly, but I couldn't read a thing that was on the screen. The fact that I couldn't read anything made perfect sense to me, though. You dream with one side of your brain and read with the other, so, when dreaming, you can't read anything in your dreams, though you may or may not collect the information presented anyway. I sat there drinking my pop for a moment and watching television for another hour or so before the door bell rang.

"Heh, lemme guess, Ed McMahon with my Publisher's Clearing House prize." I chuckled as I stood up and sat my pop down, walking to the door and opening it. "Hell...o?" I stopped short when I found a man and a woman on my porch. The man was tall with short, sandy-blond hair, and a very feminine face. The woman was slightly shorter with long, wavy bluish-green hair, highly attractive and very mature in terms of poise. "Um, can I help you?" I asked.

"Yeah, we were just wondering who'd moved in way out here. We try to keep up with new arrivals out in these parts of Tokyo." The male... no wait... he had breasts... they were smaller than normal, but that was a woman. It then dawned on me who it was standing here in front of me.

"Um, yeah... out here?" I asked, leaning my head out the door and looking around, there were other houses around, but they were about a football field away from each other out here. Off in the distance, to the East, stood the sky-scrapers that I registered would represent Tokyo.

"Yes, out here." The blond gave the green haired woman a curious look. "Anyway, I'm Haruka Tenoh, this is my girlfriend..." She motioned. I glanced back at them and nodded.

"Yeah, Michiru Kaioh, I know." I said absent mindedly. "You guys live out here?" I asked, curiously. I didn't noticed the look of shock on both of their faces. "Huh, I thought you two had an apartment in the downtown area... GYAH!" I cried out when Haruka grabbed me by the collar and yanked me back into my own house slamming my back up against my own wall.

"Alright, punk, who the hell are you, and how do you know so much about us?" Haruka growled, Michiru stood behind her, an equally angered expression on her face. "I knew that we'd felt something strange coming from this house a few days ago, but I was about ready to give up on the suspicions."

"Who are you?" Michiru asked. I grunted out an unintelligible response that was intended to have been my name. "What did you say?" She asked, putting a hand on Haruka's shoulder. Haruka loosened her grip and allowed me back to the floor.

"Simpleton... Alex... Simpleton." I replied, gasping for breath. "And... this... is a dream... that's how I know almost everything about you. You're not my personal favorites of the group... and... it's kinda odd that you should show up first..." I said, thinking out loud before standing up straight again and clearing my throat. "Honestly... I mean, yeah, you're hot in your own boyish way..." I motioned to Haruka. "...and you're a downright honey, Michiru... but usually in these dreams it's Rei that shows up first." I pursed my lips and walked over to the couch again, sitting down and grabbing my pop before killing the television. "Or... are you here to tell me where she is? It does happen that way sometimes." I said pointedly. They exchanged glances again.

"What in the name of all that is holy are you blabbing about?" Haruka asked.

"This dream, of course. I mean, it has been a while since I've dreamed about anything related to Sailor Moon, but..." Their sharp gasps cut me off. "Oh, come on, drop the dumbfounded routine already, will you? I've already told you..." I stopped myself when my eyes fell on the business card Jackson had left on the table. It was written in English, plain English, and I could read it perfectly. My face slowly faded to white and I dropped the can spilling the fluid all over myself. "Oh... my... god..." I stood up and backed into the corner, looking up at the both of them. "No, it's a dream... it HAS to be a dream... this isn't real... it can't be real... Sailor Moon is NOT REAL!" I yelled the last part and ducked down, clenching my jaws and my eyes shut tightly. "Just a dream. Just a dream. Just a dream. Just a dream..."

"The others need to know about this." Michiru said quietly giving me a glance before putting a hand on Haruka's shoulder. Haruka nodded in response and sighed.

"Go, call them, I'll wait here and make sure he's kosher." She said. Michiru smiled and kissed Haruka on the cheek.

"Don't beat him up, and stay alert, we still don't know exactly what's going on here." Michiru pointed out the obvious. I stood up and waggled my finger at her.

"Yes, yes, that's right, you're still pointing out the obvious, in a more subtle way than Ami, granted, but you're still doing it none-the-less..." My voice was high pitched and cracking as I tried to make sense of it. "Just like in the anime." Haruka rolled her eyes and her head to look at Michiru.

"Hurry." Haruka almost groaned to her before turning her attention back to me. "And you, Simpleton, you need to sit down..."

"No, what I need is a cigarette." I pointed out and moved towards the kitchen. "In dreams, you can't get lung cancer, so what the hell, right?" I laughed as I opened my dad's drawer and pulled out the pack lighting one up with his Zippo. "See, I told you it's a dream, Dad left on a vacation and conveniently forgot his cigarettes, for the first time since I was born." I then took a seat at the breakfast bar and smoked my cigarette, waiting as Michiru made some phone calls on her cellular phone and then walked back inside.

"Any progress?" She asked.

"Heh." Haruka replied with a breathy laugh as she watched my like falcon. "He thinks we're anime characters?"

"Anime characters." Michiru repeated. "Maybe a psychosis?"

"Hey flabber you!" I jumped and responded, stopping short when I realized what I'd said. Flabber? Was that even a word? I didn't think so. "Anyway, don't you dare accuse me of psychosis, it's all fo you guys' fault that I ever had one to begin with!" They both had their attention fixed on me. "Yeah, well, mainly Rei's fault, but lets not split hairs, you're all on the same damn team, aren't you?"

"I'm thinking that's an admission of guilt." Haruka nodded.

"To hell with you then." I growled and went back to my stool behind the breakfast bar. "You're lucky I don't call the cops and have you arrested for breaking and entering, not to mention assault and battery." they both looked at me.

"Wait, you're threatening us with law suits?" Haruka asked. "What kind of alien are you?"

"Alien? I'm a human you dumb bimbo!" I said again stopping. Bimbo? Did I really just call Haruka a Bimbo? That wasn't what I'd intended to say.

"Bimbo? Please... you're about as insulting as a gnat. You know who we are, do you really think a law suit scares us?" I stopped for a moment and sighed then stopped for a moment.

"Wait, you said you felt something strange from my house?" I asked, confused.

"Yes, negativity." Haruka replied. "A tremendous amount of negativity, the kind that usually accompanies aliens, daemon, and youma." I widened my eyes for a moment and looked myself over. Nope, no alien mutations, no demonic impulses.

"Wait... wait... and you just walked in?" I asked. "If this house is a center for Negativity... wait... THE GRASS!" I jumped up and ran downstairs. Nearly every monster ever presented in the Sailor Moon anime had a plant or animal theme to it. I didn't own any pets, but there was those sod samples I'd poured that fertilizer on. I darted down and zipped around the corner, Haruka and Michiru hot on my heels. The grass, however, was inanimate and lifeless in it's planters though. "Is this where you feel it from?" I asked, eyeing the plants suspiciously and edging around the wall to the spot where my laser gun was in it's display case.

"No, the grass is fi..." she stopped and her eyes widened when she spotted my shelving unit. My Sailor Moon action figures were all lined up in rows and in various poses. I finally reached the spot and opened the display case pulling the gun out of it's case and taking aim on the grass.

"You're sure it's okay?" I asked. They both looked at me with incredulous expressions on their faces.

"What is THAT?" Haruka asked, pointing at the shelves. I turned to look and shook my head.

"I told you, I'm a fan of your show, that is part of my collection." I replied, still watching the grass planters, though I'd lowered the gun.

"Collection?" Michiru asked.

"Yes, collection." I sighed. "You guys don't have action figures or famous TV characters over here? Geez, I thought that was a world wide thing." I walked over. "See, these were made by Hasbro... these were made by Mattel... Those over there are figurines I had custom molded. Cost Dad a small fortune to have it done, but oh the quality is so good."

"Hey, we're here! Where are you guys?" A voice came from upstairs.

"Downstairs!" Haruka responded. "Hurry! You guys have GOT to see this!"


	4. Hindsight is 20 20

I waited as they came down to join us in my basement apartment and my jaw dropped when I saw them. They looked so very different than I had expected. They had all grown up from the looks of it, and they had grown well. I could still identify each of them, but they'd changed so much. Ami was taller with long, blue hair the hung around her shoulders, neatly clipped into place. Her outfit was that of a higher class woman, a silk blouse with silver buttons and a matching, knee-length skirt. Nothing obnoxious, but classy. Makoto's style of dress hadn't changed, but she had grown older and looked more mature as well. Her ankle-length, denim skirt was trademark by now, as was the simple, olive-green blouse she wore with it. Her hair was still pulled back into it's typical pony-tail with the same tie. Minako looked a bit more sensual than I'd figured she would've, wearing a pair of painted-on, blue denims and a mid-rift t-shirt with a short sleeve blouse left open over top of that. Her hair was left completely down today, most of it swept behind her right ear. Usagi had dressed very modestly, as expected. A nice, pale, pink skirt combined with a simple, white blouse sporting lace detailing around the collar and cuffs. Rei also wore typical garb, though only typical to someone who was a true fan. Her black, denim jeans fit just right, and the black tank-top worn with them accented all of her best physical features.

"So, who's the new guy?" Minako asked. Haruka and Michiru exchanged glances.

"We're not sure anymore." Haruka replied. "But he knows who we are." Everyone's gaze was turned to me. "In fact, he has action figures of each of us."

"Not to mention all five seasons of the anime, including specials and movies, all 18 volumes of the manga, and almost every collectible ever made. There's a few that are hard to find and even harder to get your hands on, but I have most of it. And some custom made things too."

"Anime?" Makoto asked, putting a hand on her jutted hip as she stared at me as though I were crazy. Minako joined her.

"Manga?" She asked with a breathed chuckle, finally it was Usagi's turn to chime in.

"Collectibles?"

"Yes, yes, and yes. Oh! And the video games too! Well, pirated, computer versions of them, but I'm working on getting my hands on the actual cartridges. I did manage to get an imported copy of the Playstation game, but sadly my unit won't run it until I get the mod chip necessary. Though, since I've apparently slipped into some sort of relapse, I probably won't ever accomplish that. Mom and Dad are going to burn it all if they find out... when they find out, rather." I sighed and looked around at all the décor I had just put back up.

"What kind of relapse?" Ami asked, furrowing her brows slightly.

"The kind that gets me committed and drugged into a comatose." I replied with a sigh. "But hey, that's what I get for believing in a cartoon." I chuckled and shook me head. "If you'll all excuse me, I need another cigarette, with any luck, I'll smoke so much in this dream that I'll believe myself into a case of nicotine poisoning and just die that way." Two hands reached out and stopped me from getting to the stairs.

"You're not lying are you?" Rei asked. I stopped and swallowed slightly.

"Why would I lie? This is a dream, and logically speaking, it serves me no benefit to lie in figments of my own imagination." I sighed.

"But you don't completely believe that, do you?" She asked. "Your eyes are filled with fear. If this were just some dream, what would you have to be afraid of?"

"I'm afraid of what my parents like to call 'therapy', Rei, if you must know." I replied. "I've been down this road once, it almost killed me, you almost killed me." I said before pulling myself out of her grip and then walking past them upstairs.

"We don't understand... um, what's your name?" Ami asked.

"Alex Simpleton." I replied as I exited the stairwell and turned left, heading into the kitchen and resuming my seat at the breakfast bar before lighting another cigarette. "Heh, it's funny, I think I'm actually getting a chemical reaction out of these. Who knew that if you believed enough, your brain could produce nicotine, huh?" I chuckled.

"You said that Rei almost killed you?" Ami asked. "If we're not real..."

"I believed you were." I cut her off. "My friends and I, we came up with a game. We role played ourselves to be planetary knights in service of the future empire of Neo Tokyo, and we re-enacted your first adventures against Metallia and Beryl, only we were there to help. The game had two rules. We couldn't let ourselves be discovered, by you or anyone else, and we couldn't let our respective Senshi die, or even be injured if we could help it." I paused and took another drag off the smoke, my hands started shaking as I recalled the game's final outcome.

"And a game led you to be committed?" Makoto asked with a chuckle.

"It's not funny." I replied. "My character killed himself to save his Senshi from death at the hands of the Doom and Gloom girls. I had invested so much of myself into the character that my mind imagined everything to be real. So, when the rock slide would've taken her, it took me instead. I felt everything as though it had happened to me. My body literally tried to kill itself because it believed that it had just been crushed by a landslide." Ami bit her lip and stayed quiet as the others looked at me with pure disbelief in their eyes. I'd seen it before. No one ever believed me when I told the story.

"In the end, they had to medicate me into a stupor to make the pain stop. I was confused and in a distorted reality for a few months after that. I kept asking if she was okay, if I'd completed my mission successfully, but no one knew what I was talking about, so when I'd ask, they'd medicate me some more. Eventually, I was bed ridden with medications. They actually had to condition me back into reality." I cut a short laugh before taking the last drag off the smoke and snuffing it. "So yes, I fear dreams. Especially dreams that feature all of you."

"Alex, um." Ami started. "I don't think you're dreaming." She looked up at me. "Speaking from the standpoint of a Medical Doctor, if you're dreaming, then that would mean that I am not real, and if I am not real, I would not have the memories that I do."

"Or, you could just be saying that as my brain tries to thrust me further down the rabbit hole." I replied. "I cannot verify with any amount of quantifiable evidence that you are, in fact, real. And since I know you in my life to be the characters of a popular animated television program..."

"Wait, what about that energy we felt?" Michiru said suddenly. "Is it possible that he wound up here as the result of some kind of new enemy?"

"Like Chibiusa did?" I asked. "Unlikely, I have no connection to any of you. It wouldn't fit the plot, besides, season five brought closure to the whole storyline when Chaos revealed that he'd been the one to send every enemy before him and orchestrated the entire chain of events. With him neutralized, what else could be at fault?"

"Valid point." Haruka replied. "Perhaps there was some kind of random astrological event?" She asked, looking at Ami.

"We could contact Artemis to find out." She replied with a shrug. Minako nodded and picked up her cell phone, walking out to the porch. "In the meantime, though, how would we be able to prove whether or not this is a dream?"

"Not sure." I replied. "I can read some things, so that test is null and void. I've been feeling a LOT of pain today too. I could try to get run over by a car, but that would be counter productive, either I'd wake up, or in the off chance that I'm wrong, I'd just die."

"Well, in any case, it just won't do for you to keep yourself holed up believing this to be a dream. Eventually you're going to figure out that it isn't, and when you do, you'll probably be an old fat man who doesn't even know what's going on outside of his own house by that point." Minako sighed.

"She has a point." Usagi chimed in. "Whether this life is a dream or a reality, you have to live it anyway, right? Until you die or until you wake up, whichever comes first. And if they're going to medicate you for it anyway, why not have fun with it while you're here?" I looked up and thought about it for a moment. I could not conjure a single valid argument against it.

"Fair enough. Besides, I have a project coming to me in a few weeks to work on anyway." I nodded. "I should really clean out the garage and get it ready. Might be nice to work out in the open air for a change, since apparently my parents didn't make it into this dream." I looked up at the girls again. "So, since this completely weird event is the only thing we have in common, I presume I'm in the clear by way of suspicion for being the next nemesis?"

"Not completely." Haruka replied. "Many of our past enemies have appeared harmless at first."

"Alright, so you'll be coming around then?" I asked.

"Possibly, how's your Japanese?" Michiru asked. I thought about it for a moment then my eyes widened and I slammed my head into the counter.

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Dammit, how did I overlook that?" I looked up and pointed at Ami. "Say something in Japanese." Ami looked baffled for a moment, but shrugged and spoke something that I didn't understand a single word of. "Alright, now, write it down in the same." I handed her a pen and paper. She wrote it down and handed it back. The symbols and characters looked exactly like the characters that I couldn't read. I walked over and picked up the envelope, pulling out one of the bills inside. "This is a single Yen, isn't it?" I asked. They all nodded. I laughed and shook my head.

"Wow, I can be really stupid when I'm panicked. This is both really good news and really bad news." A thought suddenly occurred to me. "If this is real, that would mean that I no longer have any need to fear being medicated, that's the good news. On the other hand, I've revealed a lot of really personal information that I might not have shared otherwise."

"So you don't think it's a dream, then?" Usagi asked. "Is anyone else here confused?"

"I don't know whether it is or not, but all the signs that I thought were pointing towards it being a dream were actually just misunderstandings. I thought that this envelope had a lot of money in it, turns out that it has a lot of Japanese Yen in it, which is only about one one hundredth the value of an American Dollar. Furthermore, the language that I couldn't read wasn't because I just couldn't read it, it was because I can't read Japanese."

"So, you don't know Japanese then?" Haruka asked. I shook my head somewhat sheepishly.

"I've always had to rely on dubs and subtitles, with my work being as intensive and time consuming as it is, I never had the time to learn."

"Your work? What do you do?" Rei asked, speaking up for the first time in a while. Her very voice sent chills down my spine, but I tried my best to ignore that. In any kind of reality, she was out of my league and I knew it.

"I'm, well, I'm an inventor." I shrugged a bit. "This is the first installment of a salary I'm earning for my next project." Makoto snatched the envelope and peered inside for a moment before handing it back.

"There's gotta be like a million Yen in there, how many installments are you expecting?" She asked with an incredulous tone.

"Not sure, he said it'd be somewhere in the ballpark of five hundred million when it was all said in done. Not sure exactly how good a deal that is in Yen though, it's round out to about five million dollars in translation though, which is still pretty damn good, five times more than what I made off 'The Simple Stove'." I took the envelope back to the breakfast bar. "I just wish it weren't a military project, but, with me potentially being here for a good long while... I'll have to do something for money." I sighed.

"So, you're an inventor, but you don't like weapons?" Haruka asked. "What's that thing in your pocket then?" She asked. I remembered the laser gun in my pocket and pulled it out, setting it down on the counter.

"That'd be the reason I don't do military projects. It's a laser gun, powerful enough to burn a five inch hole through any amount of living tissue in seconds... A theory which proved fatally true when I accidentally killed the neighbor's dog with it." I sighed. "I keep it as a reminder of what NOT to do. Though, I'm curious..." I picked it up and walked over to the front door, looking around. The neighbors were all either not home or inside. I pointed to the hills in front of me. "What's over there?"

"Miles of wilderness, why?" Michiru asked. I lifted the gun and fired a shot. It was completely different than what I'd expected. The laser, when fired in my world, had fired a single, continuous beam of colored light that burned a hole through anything it touched. This, however, worked much closer to the lasers in Star Wars and similar works of fiction.

"I'll be damned." I said, lowering the muzzle. There had been a small burst of flame when it struck the ground, and I could see a scorch mark, but there didn't appear to be a hole. "It actually works as intended here. Still not enough to convince me that death machines are a good thing, but it's at least promising to know that technology has it's limits here." I nodded as I walked back and sat the gun down on the counter again.

"Well, in any event, we can't leave you by yourself without knowing Japanese, someone's either gotta teach you, or translate for you until you can learn yourself." Usagi said. "Especially if you're going to be doing a lot of shopping." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "Wait a minute, Rei, don't you teach Japanese at the shrine?"

"To small children, yes." Rei replied. "But that's assuming they have a basic understanding of it from the start, I've never taught an adult who knew nothing of the language."

"That's better than any of us can do, Setsuna may be able to do better, but she's been MIA for a while now." Michiru pointed out.

"Well, it may not be necessary, guys, I mean all of you speak English fairly well, right?" they exchanged glances.

"It helps us talk so that others can't understand what we're talking about." Ami replied. "It's not a common trait, Alex." Well that sucked. On the upside, it meant that, like my dreams, I'd be spending a lot of time with Rei, the downside was that it put me close to something I knew I could never have.

"Well, I can't do it for free in any case." Rei said. "I mean, if I'm going to be spending that much time away from the temple, I'll need to hire more groundskeepers." I shrugged and nodded.

"Name your price." I said plainly. She looked at me solemnly and frowned for a moment.

"Fine, two hundred thousand Yen." She replied somewhat roughly. I pursed my lips and nodded.

"I'll have it waiting for you whenever you're ready to begin." Something about money offended her, apparently. That's when it dawned on me, her father was notorious for flaunting his cash around.

"Well then, seems like the arrangements have been taken care of, everyone's good now, and it's getting late." Minako noted. "We should really get scooting before Mamoru sends out the hounds looking for his wife."

"Sounds good, it was nice meeting you, Alex." Ami said with a smile, rising to her feet. The other girls joined her and after all the farewells had been said, I was alone inside my massive house again. Left to think about everything that had transpired today.


	5. Mars and Cars

I knew, from the moment that I'd started believing the possibility of all of this being real, that there were going to be a lot of awkward moments. I knew that it was going to be a difficult road for me to travel down, staying in the company of the girls and their friends. I was, let's face it, a fan boy. I know that if I were some kind of superhero, I'd probably appreciate my fans, but getting in close with them would likely be very annoying. So, I tried my best not to flaunt my fandom there. I went through my house and removed all of the collectibles from their prominent positions and put them away in their cabinets. Naturally, I had to tape the doors shut as I'd destroyed the handles and locking mechanisms, but it was done that previous night before I'd gone to bed. I should've known, however, that I didn't get everything in the first try. There were still some pieces, some substantial and some less than substantial, that I'd missed.

The next day, Rei showed up around noon to begin teaching me how to speak the Japanese language. I had just finished preparing myself for a long day in the garage as it had to be cleaned out before I could begin my work. So I was there, dressed in my grease-monkey jumpsuit with my steel toed work boots and my neatly parted hair when I answered the door. She had worn a more professional get up this time, consisting of a calf-length skirt and nice blouse and jacket. Her hair was pulled half back and fastened behind her head subtly with a couple of flat clips. She smiled, though faintly, when I opened the door.

"So, are you ready to begin your lessons, Alex?" She asked. I nodded and took in a deep breath to keep myself in check, she looked absolutely fantastic.

"Absolutely, come in." I said, allowing her in before I closed the door and followed her into the house. She looked at the kitchen table, where I had laid out the money that had been in the envelope in various increments. There had been several different kinds of the bills and I had counted them out and stacked them neatly in wrapped stacks for identification. Rei cut a short laugh and pointed.

"What's this?" She asked. I blushed and rubbed my head sheepishly.

"Well, I don't know which ones are which, so I didn't know how to count out your fee." I admitted. "One of them belongs to you, I just didn't know which." She nodded and walked over to the table pointing out the various different kids of bills and explaining their corresponding value. It took little time to explain as the Japanese monetary system was based on metric measurements. As a scientist, I used the metric system almost exclusively. So I handed her the money that was due to her and then put the rest away in the safe beneath my bed in the basement. When I came back upstairs she looked at me strangely for a moment.

"I'm trying to peg you here, Alex, but you're a strange one." She admitted with a nod. Her hands were clasped in front of her in a neutral stance, her head turned slightly to one side.

"How do you mean?" I asked, adjusting my glasses on the bridge of my nose. Inwardly I was waiting for the worst. I didn't know what it was she was about to say, but I knew all too well that she didn't often have pleasant comments concerning men.

"Well, you show up from another world, an envelope full of money, a brain the size of Tokyo Tower, and all of the assets that one would normally expect from such a person. I'm sitting here and waiting for the downsides of your character to present themselves. Inevitably, you have them, and for some reason, I feel inclined to ask you about them up front." She said.

"D-downsides?" I asked. "You mean besides the former psychosis?" My question sounded off with a chuckle. She shook her head.

"Well, given that the psychosis was actually a misdiagnosis, I would say that doesn't count." She replied. "So what is it then? Are you a closet homosexual?"

"N-n-no, I'm straight." The answer produced a blush on my cheeks that felt like my face had ignited itself into flames. She nodded and took a step closer a slight smirk on her face.

"Not gay, hmmm... pervert then?" She asked.

"Um, ex-excuse me?" I asked. She crinkled her nose for a moment and shrugged as she took yet another step forward.

"You know, penchant for women's underwear and pornographic photos?" She explained. "Maybe you have an erotic film collection down there somewhere?" The blush deepened.

"Um, I... I have... um... a couple of doujinshis... b-b-but no... not really." Rei nodded and made an impressed face for a moment.

"So what is it then?" She asked, now standing about three inches away from me, looking up into my eyes with a glint in hers that resembled a playful nature, though the tone in her voice was far too alluring. "Overactive imagination, perhaps? Built in x-ray vision?" I averted my eyes and closed them with a tightening of my jaw.

"Not until you b-brought it up..." I replied, turning my head. She reached out and stopped me turning it back to hers, though I still did not open my eyes.

"Why are you closing your eyes, Alex? Guilty conscience?" She asked.

"No, but I am in possession of a Y chromosome. The various, um, hormones in my blood tend to excite certain portions of my brain and, um, thus provoke certain thought patterns and reflexes when presented with certain situations..." I stammered out the explanation as best I could. I could almost see, even through my clenched eyelids, the sarcastic nod and scoffing smile on her face.

"I'm sure, Alex, I'm going to ask you one more question, and your answer will determine whether or not I stay here today, understood?" She asked.

"U-understood, ask away." I replied, keeping my eyes closed.

"What is the nature of your attraction to me?" She asked simply. My eyes opened involuntarily.

"At-attraction?" I asked. She stepped back and folded her arms across her chest.

"Are you suggesting that you're not, in any way, attracted to me?" She asked. "Because Usagi and Minako picked up on it easy enough. Not to mention that story about how I killed you, and the avalanche that killed your character? If you believed it to be real, what would propel you to sacrifice your own life for someone else? Don't you dare lie to me, Alex." She shook her head slowly.

"I... I wasn't going to lie..." I said finally with a sigh. "I was just hoping that I'd hidden it a little better than that so I wouldn't have to..." I stopped and took a deep breath stepping towards the kitchen for a smoke, Rei stopped me with a hand on my chest.

"Finish your statement." She commanded.

"So I wouldn't have to deal with this situation right here. I know you don't like men, I know you especially can't stand rich men. I know about your vows to the Queen..."

"And you fell anyway." She said with a tone of disbelief.

"Not everyone has the degree of control over their emotions that you do, Rei." I said quietly before pushing past her into the kitchen and lighting a cigarette. "You want to know one of my big character flaws? I'm too emotional. My heart's on my sleeve twenty-four seven and nearly every move I make is based on that fact. Another one? I have an affinity for goals that are beyond my reach even in my wildest dreams. I'm a hopeless dreamer of a nobody who has nothing that any woman would want, except for maybe money." I chuckled and took a drag.

"And you smoke." She pointed out.

"Yeah, and I smoke." I sighed. "Like I was ever foolish enough to believe that I'd have a chance with someone like you?" I shook my head and took another drag off the smoke. "I know my limits..."

"And you're a coward." She noted with an impatient sigh. "Whether or not you'd have a chance is irrelevant, why wouldn't you pursue something you want?"

"Because if the desire is not returned, then it's a waste of time that I'll never get back. I lost nearly three years, Rei, three YEARS of my life to that damned medication because of my feelings for you." I was having issues controlling the surging feelings in my blood now. "I don't even remember most of them... I was sleeping, dreaming about how my life would have been so much better if only I'd truly been Ares..."

"Ares?" She asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Yes, Commander Ares was the alias for my character. The Martian Knight." She nodded.

"Alright, well, I'm going to stop you there, Alex." She replied, withdrawing the money I'd given her from her purse and setting it on the counter. "I, um, I don't think either one of us is ready for this right now, so I'll try again another day, alright?"

"Sure." I said with a slight nod. "I, um, I have to get my garage cleaned out anyway, so I should probably go get started." I started towards the door to the garage as she moved towards the front door.

"Right, um, tomorrow then?" She asked, stepping backwards.

"Tomorrow should be good, yeah." I nodded again as I opened the door too quickly and fell backwards through it. "GYAH! OOF!" I cried out as I landed in an empty metal trashcan, butt first.

"Oh my goodness, Alex are you okay?" Rei ran over to help and then covered her mouth to help control a giggle when she saw me. "And you're a clutz." She pointed out.

"Only when walking backwards." I replied with a small laugh of my own as I planted my hands on the sides of the can and pushed myself out of it. I looked around the garage and sighed. It was cluttered as hell and quite messy. There was a small walkway to the front garage door from the door inside the house and that was about it. "On second thought, I don't know if tomorrow will be good either." I sighed, looking at the piles of junk.

"Well, I could help if you like." She said. I furrowed my brows for a moment in confusion.

"Really?" I asked.

"Well, yeah, I mean, I already took the next few hours off anyway, so it wouldn't really make much sense to waste it. Besides, with as clutzy as you are, I'd be afraid to leave you to this all by yourself. You might fall into one of these piles and kill yourself or something like that." I started to protest but thought better of it.

"Alright then. Though, you're not really dressed for the occasion." I noted. "I do, however, have another jumpsuit downstairs, it's an older one from a few years ago, won't fit me anymore, but it might fit you. Let me go get it." I said. She nodded and moved to the front door again.

"Alright, and I'll go open the garage door." She said. I nodded and walked downstairs turning left at the base of the steps to head into my room. It was strange how quickly the situation had changed from something completely hostile and argumentative into something far more friendly and cordial. Strange and thought provoking, I actually entertained the idea that maybe, just maybe, she might be attracted to me at that point. Only for a moment, though, as the thought still seemed absolutely ludicrous to me.

I returned to the top floor only a few moments later with the jumpsuit in hand before heading out the front door. Rei stood in front of the open garage door with her hands clapped over her mouth, staring at something. I took a few jogging steps over towards her.

"Rei? You al..." I stopped when I saw what she'd been staring at. A vehicle covered by a purple and red leather cover and my eyes widened. I'd forgotten about that. "...oh wow..." I cut a short laugh and took a few more steps over towards it. "The Rover." I said in a quiet, almost enchanted tone.

"What is this, Alex?" She asked. "You had a car made?"

"Yes and no." I chuckled. "My dad actually got it for me and was holding it until I was old enough to drive. The incident happened before I came of age... man, he told me that he'd sold it." I stepped up and hung the jumpsuit over the porch rail before going back to the car and pulling the tarp off of it. Beneath the leather cover was a seventies model, convertible Ford Mustang painted red and purple with pale golden trim and white leather interior. The license plate read 'CMDR ARS'

"Commander Ares?" She asked. I nodded as I looked over the vehicle. "It's a beautiful car. I bet Haruka would love to get her hands on it." Rei chuckled.

"I've never even driven it yet." I admitted, looking at the steering wheel. "My dad drove it from the car lot to the garage where I helped him work on it. It was what gave me the original drive to become an inventor. I loved the feel of working with mechanical and technological things."

"Well, Alex, are you going to stand there gawking at it all day, or are you going to invite me to take a ride in it?" Rei asked. I started to answer then stopped and looked at her with that same dumbfounded look from before.

"Are you going to look at me like that every time I suggest something?" She asked.

"It's a distinct possibility." I said with a nod before opening the car door and climbing into the driver's seat. "Let me back it out, though, I'll warn you, I don't know how much gas it has." Rei nodded and pointed to the area behind me. I turned and spotted a pile of old gas cans hidden under a table.

"Then we'd best bring one of those." She said with a nod and a vague smile. I smiled and climbed into the car, finding the keys in the glove box and putting them in the ignition. I hesitated for a moment before turning them and closed my eyes in bliss when the engine immediately roared to life. I backed the car out of the garage and parked it, taking the keys and popping the trunk where I stopped again.

"Oh my god, really?" I laughed, spotting the red suitcase in the trunk. "That's where he hid it?"

"Hid what?" Rei asked walking over and looking down into the trunk. The suitcase was obviously custom designed judging just by it's dimensions as it was about twice as long as it was tall. "Dare I ask what's in that thing?" She asked.

"My old costume." I replied, reaching down and opening the latches. The case folded open and inside was what appeared to be a red, purple, and gold military uniform. "The helmet is missing..." I noted as I reached in and picked up what appeared to be a sword and scabbard. I drew the blade from the scabbard, only a few inches, to reveal the shining chrome blade with the fiery etchings in the broad-side.

"Wow, you were a hard core nerd, weren't you?" Rei asked with a chuckle.

"Were? You say that like I'm not now." I replied with a small laugh of my own. I put the sword away and back in the case. "Anyway, let me get some things together, check the hoses for dry rot and the fluid levels, and then we'll be off."

"Alright, I'll be right back, I need to use the restroom." She nodded in response as I went about the business of placing the leather tarp and the gas can in the trunk before closing it and moving to lift the hood. Everything under the hood was neat, clean, shiny, and in perfect condition.

"Wow, this is really weird." I noted after about five minutes of examining the engine.

"What's really weird?" Rei asked, stepping up beside me.

"This engine, it's in perfect condition, as though it just had an overhaul yesterday..." I stopped when I turned to look at her. She was wearing the jumpsuit I'd pulled out and it fit her well. "Wow, you look, um... awesome." The jumpsuit, though older and in less than perfect condition gave her an exotic sort of beauty that combined her natural good looks with a more familiar sort of outward appearance that put me in a far more comfortable zone.

"Thanks, it actually does fit well, you have a good eye for that sort of thing." She nodded and smiled somewhat roguishly. "Sure you're not a pervert?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." I replied. "But I do know your sizes, they were listed on the back of your trading card." I nodded and it was her turn to blush a bit.

"Wow, those things have little respect for privacy." She said with a slight twist of her head. I shrugged as I lowered the car's hood and gently pushed it back down until it clicked.

"Celebrities in my world have virtually no privacy." I sighed. "Hell, the U.S. President can't hardly use the bathroom without the media commenting on how it's going to affect his foreign policy." I chuckled. She smiled and nodded.

"I guess it makes sense then, not that I care for the fact that you know that much about me." I looked thoughtful for a moment as it dawned on me.

"Actually, I may not know as much as previously thought. Your height and weight have definitely changed, three size appeared, at first, to be about the same, but it's hard telling. You've grown older since the picture on the card." I noted as I moved around to the passenger side and opened the door.

"Three size?" She asked. "The trading card included bust, waist, and hip measurements?" I stopped for a moment and blushed again, clearing my throat.

"Um, no, and I plead the fifth as to where I garnered said information." I answered as she climbed into the car and allowed me to close the door.

"Plead the fifth? What is that supposed to mean?" Her question was both curious and suspicious.

"Oh right, um, it refers to the constitution's fifth amendment for the U.S. Essentially it means that I have the right to not say anything." Rei laughed.

"Wow, you guys had to put that on paper?" She let the laugh continue for another couple of moments as I climbed into the driver's seat. "Tough place you lived in. I still think you're a closet pervert." She said, cocking an eyebrow as I closed my own car door. I stopped and looked at her again. "Oh, what now?" She asked.

"If you think that, then why did you wear the jumpsuit I offered you, and why are you going on a ride with me? You have a penchant for perverts?" I asked. She pursed her lips for a moment and nodded slightly.

"Touche, good sir, touche." She sighed with a smile as I backed out of the driveway and began driving off towards Tokyo.

"So, where are we headed anyway?" I asked, glancing at her out of the corner of my eyes. I caught a glimpse, just then, and I'm not sure what it was. But the expression on her face was different than any other expression I'd seen on her face before.

"I'm not sure, where do you want to go? Have you eaten yet?" She asked. I smiled and shook my head. "Alright then, looks like we're going to a restaurant."


	6. Prophecy? or Nightmare?

Lunch was awesome. I never used to think so, in fact it was probably the least significant meal of the day to me prior to that particular day. Amazing what sharing a meal with a woman like that can do to your perceptions of something so simple, isn't it? Anyway, the restaurant had hardly been prepared to witness the spectacle of two people wearing stained, grease-monkey, jumpsuits ordering a four star meal. We enjoyed it, though, despite the wide assortment of weird looks and comments.

Afterwards, we returned to my house where she changed back into her clothes and left to go home. I don't remember much else about the day, expect that I cleaned out the garage in record time. When I went to sleep that night, it was with a smile on my face.

My eyes opened to reveal an odd scene. I was standing in what appeared to be the ruins of a major city. Looking down at myself, I noticed that I was dressed in my old costume. The red and purple military uniform still fit well apparently. A loud scream from above me turned my attention skyward and I lept backwards, avoiding the incoming sword strike that had been intended for my head. Instantly, my biometrics scanner began processing the information on my assailant, but came up with nothing that could identify him.

"What's the matter, Ares? You traitor!" A familiar voice that I couldn't quite place spoke as he stood up. I gasped as I recognized him. The suit he was wearing looked similar to my own except that it was blue and green with silver detailing.

"Poseidon." I acknowledged him. "What the hell are you doing?"

"You betrayed me, Ares! It should have been me! Now, you will pay for your treachery with your life!" His sword turned into water and elongated into his normal trident. "Destruction is coming for you, Ares, and the tides of the deep are his vessel."

"Don't do it, Poseidon, you never could beat me." I shook my head and drew my own sword which erupted into flames.

"POSEIDON DEEP SEEEEAAAA..." My former friend cried out charging up his trident's primary attack.

"ARES ROLLING FLAAAAAAME..." I drew back to counter his attack with my own. Blue waves of energy coiled around him and flowed across his armor swirling and churning as it elevated up through his arm, collecting and pooling into a glowing blue sphere at his trident's tip. Red waves of energy sizzled and crackled as they climbed up my own body. I felt the heat of the fires burning within me grow hotter and hotter, and I knew their energies would be collecting on the cutting edge of my blade.

"Can you do it, Alex?" Poseidon yelled as he continued his collecting. "Can you strike down your own brother in arms? Power is nothing if you cannot bring yourself to wield it!" I didn't answer. Greg was one of my best friends and had been for years, ever since I first started watching Sailor Moon, we'd met and become friends because of the show and we'd watched almost all of it together. Our childhood had been spent arguing over which girl was cuter, whose powers were most epic, and which baddy we wanted to fight ourselves. Now here he was... my enemy... and I didn't even know why.

"Why are you doing this, Greg?" I asked. "I've never been anything but a friend to you..."

"CAN IT, SIMPLETON! THIS WAS MY CHANCE! Now I'll never see her again and it's ALL... YOUR... FAULT...!" He roared and drew back his arm another inch, my eyes widened and I knew that it was now or never.

"STRIIIIIIIKE!" We both shouted simultaneously and thrust our weapons towards each other. The energies shot forward like rockets and fire met water creating a boiling black cloud in between us that morphed and twisted as it thickened into an oily substance. It began bubbling and brewing and slowly morphed into a humanoid shape, covered in armor from head to toe, black as night, the mecha-style eye piece glowed with a red incandescence that gave a suitably eerie and evil feel to the presence now between us.

"No! Please no! ARES HELP ME!" Greg turned and began running.

"POSEIDON!" I yelled out. "KNIGHTS! TO ARMS!" I yelled out the familiar battle cry, but could only watch in horror as the black armor lifted it's hand, aiming it at Greg's back. "I WON'T ALLOW IT! ARES ROLLING FLAME STRIKE!" I swung the sword again with all of my might and the power connected with the armored figure, but did nothing to him. His armor appeared to have absorbed it and channeled it to his outstretched hand, where a ball of flame began growing.

"Thank you, Ares, heh heh heh." The mechanical voice chuckled before releasing the ball. It shot towards Greg with the speed and force of a bullet and I watched as it shattered him. Literally shattered him, his armor, his body, and his soul... I watched as all three splintered into fragments and incinerated in the air.

"NO! DAMMIT! WHERE ARE MY KNIGHTS?" I roared at the armored figure. He lifted a hand to point at the ground. I turned to look and spotted the equally shattered remains of Magellan and Thor. Bruce and Tyrone lay on the ground, bloodied and broken, fragments of their golden and green armors, respectively, laying around them, shocked and frightened expressions frozen on their otherwise lifeless faces. "No, it isn't possible..."

"And now it's your turn, Commander Ares." The armored figure turned towards me. I jumped back and held my sword at the ready. He could absorb my powers and throw them back at me, so that wouldn't work. Looked like the only way I could beat him was in my true strong suit. I tightened my grip on the sword in my hands and gained my kendo stance. "HAH! That's your choice? Very well, Commander." He produced an enormously long straight blade sword and picked up a stance of his own. "Are you ready to join your comrades in honorable death?"

"There is no honor in what you do." I replied. "My honor will come with your death knell, YOU BASTARD!" I roared and leapt into combat. It was over before it even began, though. My jump ended with his sword piercing my stomach, the pain was intense and the world around me shook and began shattering as bright lights penetrated the gloom and doom.

"...you can never defeat me, Alex... Alex... Alex... Alex..." the armored man's voice echoed through my head.

"ALEX!" Another voice jarred my to my senses and I woke up, sitting upright on the couch in the living room. Rei, Ami, and Makoto stood over me, I was still in my jumpsuit from yesterday, apparently I had been so tired that I'd passed out on the couch.

I was disoriented at first, that nightmarish dream still echoing through my memories as I looked around.

"Greg, that son of a..." I stopped and shook my head. "Whoa, that was a really weird dream." I laughed finally as my eyes focused.

"So, who's the bastard who's death knell will bring you honor?" Makoto asked. I blushed and chuckled, grabbing a throw pillow and hiding my face with it.

"I was talking in my sleep, wasn't I?" I asked, my voice muffled.

"Yeah, you kinda were... Commander." Rei laughed. "Anyway, it's time for you to get up, it's almost one in the afternoon."

"Wow, I must've been tired." I threw the pillow back on the couch and hopped up to my feet, stretching for a moment. "Excuse me, girls." I yawned as I headed downstairs. I quickly showered off and changed, throwing the now smelly jumpsuit into the laundry hamper and then heading back upstairs. It had been about twenty minutes and they were still waiting.

"Much better." Rei nodded. "Ready for lessons now?" She asked.

"Sure, We can do it out in the garage, I have to finish setting up what equipment I do have as you're teaching." Rei nodded in agreement. "And to what do I owe the pleasure of your company?" I asked Makoto and Ami.

"Oh, we were just bored and decided to hang out with you cool people for a while is all." Makoto replied. Ami nodded quietly but gave Rei a shifty eyed look that told me that her reason wasn't entirely true.

"Fair enough." I replied, heading out to the garage and leaving the door open so they could follow. I know it sounds crazy, but even as I was walking out of the house and into the garage, I could've sworn that I heard that armored man's voice again.

"_I... am... destruction..."_


	7. The Ultimatum Delivered

"This is insane, Sir, Suru will be here in mere months and he still hasn't even begun crafting the suit, let alone training in it's use." Jackson's voice penetrated the dimly lit room. He spoke to the silhouette of a man in a high, wing-back chair. The chair was parked behind a long desk with a strange looking emblem on the front of it. The emblem depicted a sword and shield on a circular backdrop. The shield was emblazoned with a sixteen point star. The label beneath the emblem read in latin: 'Praemunio Pacis, Instruo Pro Bellum'.

"Are you suggesting, Agent Jackson, that my decision was flawed?" The voice from the other side of the wing-back chair asked. The chair was turned with it's back to Agent Jackson, the man sitting in the chair gazing out, through what appeared to be a window, at a star filled sky. At the sound of his statement, Jackson tightened his jaw.

"No, Sir, I was merely stating that he doesn't seem to have the drive that you suggested he should have." Jackson replied.

"Alex will do just fine, Jackson. We've spent fifteen years piecing this together and every facet has been prepared for. Based on my observations as well as the reports coming in from my field agents, everything seems to be progressing according to plan." The voice was masculine and deep, yet it had a soft and somewhat amused undertone to it.

"And the traitor?" Jackson asked.

"That pawn has yet to be moved, Jackson. Patience is a virtue in this business, and it would serve you well to learn some." The voice answered as casually as he had been speaking the whole time.

"And you don't feel, at all, that any of this was a mistake?" Jackson asked.

"I have many regrets, Agent Jackson, my long life has been filled with as many regrets as it has been joyous occasions. Selecting Alex Simpleton for this task, however, is not among those regrets, and I do not foresee it ever being one."

"Understood, Sir. Shall I commence the delivery operation?" Jackson asked.

"Yes, and send this with the delivery as well." the wing-back chair turned towards the desk, the owner still masked in shadows. His hand stretched over the desk and produced a small silver disk. "Make sure that it is received and applied."

"As you command, Sir." Jackson saluted before taking the disk and then exiting the room. The door closed behind him leaving the man in the wing-back to turn his attention back to the stars.

"And so the pawn attempts to move himself without the master's hand." The man sighed. "Such a tragic waste that the pawn does not see the field through the same eyes as the player."

Two weeks passed and my Japanese was getting better and better as time progressed. The garage had been set up as a workshop containing a series of lab tables and computers as well as a wide variety of toolboxes and assembly areas. Rei was there, nearly every day, and we worked on my Japanese conversation skills as I went about putting my workshop together.

The box van arrived with my delivery and I watched as the black suits moved crates and boxes into the garage. I signed off on the delivery and Jackson showed up with the computers and a specialized disk a couple of days later.

"Alright, Alex, looks like you're set up efficiently enough, have you gone through the delivery's contents yet?" He asked.

"Some of them." I nodded. "Looks like some kind of weaponized armor." I said.

"You have good eyes." He nodded as he slid the disk to me. "Take a look at our estimations of the finished product." I sighed and took the disk, putting it in the laptop's tray. The design that came up on the screen caught my attention.

"You're kidding." I looked up at him. "What the hell is going on here Jackson?"

"Well, we figured that you would like to be the one to build it. It was your design after all." I closed the laptop.

"How?" I asked him simply, clasping my hands together and closing my eyes with my hands in front of my face.

"What did you think all that equipment was for...?" He asked.

"No, Jackson, how did you put me here?" I asked, staring him dead in the eyes. "You can't tell me that my waking up in this world, followed by this..." I motioned towards the laptop, "...is just some kind of coincidence. I can be pretty damn naïve at times, but I'm not stupid."

"Let me answer your question with another question, Alex." Jackson replied leaning forward and resting his elbow on the desk. "Do you like it here? How're you and Rei doing? I hear things are going quite well for you."

"A stupid question, Jackson, you already know the answer." He nodded and licked his lips for a moment before furrowing his brows.

"Then let me give you a nickle's worth of free advice." He said. "If you don't stop worrying about how you got here, and start worrying about how to keep this place around, you're gonna lose it, and you're gonna get yourself killed in the process." He said, his dark eyes burning holes through mine. "Something's coming, Alex. Something big and bad..."

"That's what the girls are for, Jackson. They're experts in that field." I replied. He chuckled.

"The girls aren't prepared for this, and they will never be. If they fight it alone, they will die and this world will die with them."

"So I'm supposed to build this for a pilot who can help them?" I asked.

"In a manner of speaking, yes." Jackson replied. "And time is running out."

"And you waited two weeks to get it to me?" The urgency of the situation crept through my body like an ice cold flood. "That was two weeks..."

"That you needed in order to acclimate to your environment." Jackson interrupted. "Now, I would suggest that you stop bitching about your situation and get to work. We'll be in touch." Jackson stood up and shook his head briefly before walking back out of the office. Shortly afterward, Rei walked in with a concerned expression on her face.

"Alex? Is something wrong?" She asked when she saw my red face and frustrated expression. I thought, for a moment, about telling her what Jackson had just told me. I saw the look in her eyes, the look of pure concern and it made me wonder for a moment: _'Are they responsible for her getting close to me also? If they're powerful enough, whoever 'they' are, to bring me to this place, are they powerful enough to make her like me?'_ The thought was frightening and made me even angrier at Jackson. Still, he'd said that they would die if they fought whatever this was alone. As frightening as the thought was that they could do that, the thought of Rei dying was even more so.

"Well, I received proof positive that this isn't a dream." I said, sighing and standing up, picking the laptop up under my arm. "Whatever agency Jackson is with is responsible for my being here." I shook my head, Rei stepped back and then followed me as I walked to the garage.

"What? How is that possible?" She asked.

"They need me to build them something. A weapon." I continued with a sigh. "My being here is a reward or incentive. If I don't build it..."

"They'll send you back?" She asked. "That's downright vicious. What are you going to do?" She asked putting her hand on my back and rubbing it lightly.

"Build it, I guess." I sighed and shook my head. "If I go back, well, let's just say that I've got no intention of going back. I'd sooner die."

"Hey, Alex, look. No one's dying here, so, how bad is this weapon they want you to build?" She asked.

"Nothing too terribly bad, It's... well... I kinda signed a gag order, so I can't really talk about it." I sighed again.

"Fair enough, do you... want me to go?" She asked. I chuckled for a moment.

"Not really, though it's probably a good idea." I answered with a slight smile. "I do need to get to work and put the hammer down though." She smiled and nodded once.

"Well, we can get together in a few days, can't we?" She asked, blushing for a moment. "To continue your lessons, I meant." She explained.

"Yeah, I'd like that." I replied. She smiled and nodded.

"Good, then just call me when you're ready, alright?" And with that she waved and walked off into the house, exiting through the front door. I stood there for a few more moments before opening the laptop again and staring at the model on the screen. It was a battle suit, heavily armed and armored. It was colored red, purple, and gold with some white detailing. It was Commander Ares.


	8. The Incredible Disappearing Woman!

The next five days zipped right by me. Not because I was having fun, mind you, but because I was working nearly from sun-up to sun-down in an attempt to catch up on lost time. The armor's design was extremely complex and intricate and most of the work required the use of magnifying glasses and microscopes. After five straight days of work, I had finished about thirty of the one hundred primary circuit boards that were required for the internal mechanisms to function properly. The sixth day, however, I woke up on the couch to a pounding on my door. Checking my watch, I found that it was almost noon and growled at myself, jumping up and moving over to the door with a yawn. After another moment, I opened the door and found Usagi and a dark haired, sharply dress male with blue eyes.

"Mamoru, I presume?" I asked. He smiled and nodded. "Well, forgive my rudeness, please come in." I stepped aside and let the two of them in. "Sorry about the mess, I've been really busy the past few days." I looked around the place and immediately started moving to pick up my normal mess of carryout boxes and disposable drink containers. Usagi and Mamoru stepped into the house and closed the door behind them. Usagi was wearing another skirt and blouse combination, her hair pulled into her trademark odangos with the tendrils trailing down her back, nearly to the ground.

"It's fine, Alex." Usagi said with a smile. "Actually we came here to invite you to our anniversary celebration tomorrow." I stopped and turned to face them for a moment.

"Really? Wow, I'm honored." I said, then noticing that I was still in my smelly jumpsuit. "I just wish my alarm hadn't failed me this morning." I chuckled, stepping forward and accepting the paper invitation that Mamoru extended to me.

"So, you're the genius I've been hearing about the past few weeks, huh?" He asked with a smile. I blushed a bit and pretended to examine the paper more closely.

"I don't know about a genius, but I'm Alex." I replied, shaking his hand.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, being married to Usagi, I get to hear all the second hand gossip about you." He chuckled and Usagi blushed looking away.

"I deny everything." I replied with a small laugh of my own. "And you came all the way out here to deliver this personally?" I asked, looking back and forth from one to the other. Usagi smiled and winced slightly.

"Actually, there was one other thing." She said. "I've been talking to Rei..." As soon as she said Rei's name, it was my turn to wince. I still hadn't called her to arrange a hang out time like she'd wanted. "She's... well, she's been acting really strange since the other day, and, I was wondering whether you had any plans to move forward with your relationship."

"Move... forward?" I asked. She nodded.

"Yeah, you know, take the next step, maybe buy her something nice or write a sappy love poem..." Usagi fired off a few suggestions. My face went beet red and it felt as though my brain had just exploded.

"You mean... wait... wait... she doesn't look at me like that..." I held up my hands. Mamoru cocked an eyebrow but remained silent otherwise.

"Are you kidding me? I have never seen her so hung up over someone before." Usagi shot back with a shocked look, as if she had expected me to know this already. "Well, not in a very long time anyway."

"You're kidding right?" I asked, turning my head to the side. "She told you this?"

"Well, no, not exactly..." Usagi answered. "I just know it, though, I mean seriously, we've been best friends forever." I thought about it for a moment. It had occurred to me that it was strange for Rei to be so eager to hang out with a guy.

"But wait... what about her oath?" I asked.

"Oath?" Usagi asked. She and Mamoru exchanged glances.

"Yes, oath, the one she made to the queen. The one about not falling in love and dating and what have you?" I asked. Usagi closed her eyes and nodded slowly.

"Oh, that one. Like she's really being held to it anymore? That was made, literally, a life time ago." She said. I nodded in response.

"True, but she still holds it sacred, doesn't she?" I asked. Usagi stepped forward and put a hand on either one of my shoulders.

"Listen to me, Alex, and listen very closely." She said. "Do you love her?"

"I..." I started to answer, again shifting my gaze back and forth between them. "I... I don't know..."

"I think you're lying." She said. "Isn't that the reason you were put in the hospital back in your world? Isn't it because you fell in love with her that all of that happened?" Her blue eyes took a determined glint to them and began piercing through mine as she tightened her grip on my shoulders. My mind was racing and reeling, my stomach churning itself into knots.

"I... Maybe..." I said. "But..."

"But nothing!" She replied, cutting me off. "You, of all people, should know what it is I stand for, and what it is that I won't stand for, and I will not stand for you just sitting here in this house all the time like an old hermit when there is a nice girl out there who cares about you far more deeply than she is willing to admit." Usagi said. I was beginning to see why she was capable of frightening Mamoru from time to time.

"What are you trying to say here, exactly?" I asked finally. She released my shoulders and hopped back a step, clapping her hands as if happy that she had accomplished something.

"What I'm trying to ask you is whether or not you know how to dance." She said finally. I nodded slowly.

"I haven't done it in a while, but my mother was a politician, so I used to go to parties and fund raisers with her all the time as a kid." It was true, I'd learned how to dance a long time ago, though, I'd never actually danced with anyone that I'd ever really liked. At least, not in this way.

"Alright, perfect!" She clapped her hands again. "So, here's the plan. When you come tomorrow, make sure you're dressed to impress. There will be plenty of dancing music playing, so, you're going to ask her to dance while you're there, alright?"

"I don't know." I shook my head. "Can I ask you something, both of you?" They suddenly looked concerned and attentive, likely due to the suddenly serious expression on my face.

"What's up, Alex?" Mamoru asked.

"Do you think it's possible that... say... some powerful extra-terrestrial force was currently active here, and they have the power to transport people back and forth across dimensions, do you think it's possible that they could have say, tweaked with someone's emotions? Maybe some kind of covert brainwashing?" They exchanged glances.

"We've encountered it before." Mamoru replied. "Why do you ask, though? You think maybe Rei's been made a victim?" He asked. "That someone brainwashed her to fall in love with you?"

"I think, given my unique circumstances, that it's entirely possible." I replied. We sat down and I explained the situation to them just as I had explained it to Rei. Throughout my explanation their faces went through a variety of expressions, from shock to disbelief, from sadness to anger, and from understanding to absolute bewilderment.

"So you think that these guys may have brainwashed her to love you, as part of an incentive to get you to craft this weapon?" Mamoru asked. I nodded slowly.

"I mean, I'm not so arrogant as to think that the world revolves around me or any such nonsense. But they brought me here because of my feelings... it only makes sense that they might continue to try and manipulate me using the same feelings."

"Wow, you really are deep." Usagi suddenly said. "The reason you haven't made a move is because you don't know whether or not she's being played?" She let out a sigh and fell back on the couch. "Oh, you're so romantic, Alex. Just like someone else I know." She said before wrapping her arms around Mamoru. I averted my eyes to give them the moment.

"Though, I don't think you have anything to worry about." Usagi said finally, looking thoughtful. "See, when Mamoru was brainwashed, it was like night and day, he was a completely different person altogether. Rei really hasn't changed that much, she's just acting a little strange, like she's overly nervous about something."

"She raises a valid point." Mamoru said. "But I'll tell you what, just to be safe, we'll have Haruka and Michiru look into it. In the meantime, though, why don't you just relax and try to have fun tomorrow, alright?"

"I can do that." I nodded with a small smile. "Speaking of, I should probably give her a call today."

"Okay, but if you do, we weren't here." Usagi said. "Got it? You got your invitation in the mail."

"Understood." I chuckled. "I'll see you two tomorrow." I said, walking them across the living room to the door and then closing it behind them after they'd left. I then walked back across the living room and picked up the cordless phone. Looking around the place as I walked I realized I still had a fair bit of cleaning to do. I went into the kitchen, where Rei's phone number was posted up on the fridge. It took only a few moments to dial and then I paused before hitting the send button. Maybe it would be better to surprise her at the party tomorrow. I sat the phone back down when it suddenly rang.

"Hello." I said picking it up and answering it.

"Hello, Alex, it's Rei, are you busy?" She asked.

"Not really, I was actually just debating on whether or not to call you." I chuckled.

"Debating?" She asked. "Is it really that hard a decision to make?"

"Well, I was debating on whether to call you and ask you if you wanted to hang out today, or wait until tomorrow and surprise you by showing up to Usagi's anniversary. But since you called, I figure option one is sounding good."

"Oh, so you were invited then?" She asked, almost sounding disappointed.

"Yeah, just got it in the mail today." I sighed and leaned back against the wall.

"Do you... you know... have a date?" She asked. I furrowed my brows at the question.

"A date?" I asked. "Do I need one?" I walked over to the counter and picked up the invitation again, reading it over.

"Well, no, but it does say that you can bring one." She noted. I spotted that portion on the bottom of the invitation.

"Ohhh, I see it now, okay, um no, no I don't." I replied. "Why do you ask?"

"No particular reason, really. Anyway, did you want to go do something today? Get a few more lessons in, maybe? Tomorrow will be a good day to test some of your conversation skills." She noted.

"Sure thing, should I pick you up at the shrine?" I asked. "Maybe save you some cab money?"

"That'd be nice of you, yes, please." She replied. "You know how to get here?" I looked at the directions that Usagi had snuck into my invitation envelope and smiled.

"I think I can manage alright." I replied. "Give me an hour, just in case I get lost." I chuckled. She shared the laugh.

"Alright, I'll send out the search parties at the hour and a half mark. See you then, Alex."

"Yeah, see you then." I replied before hanging up the phone. It had sounded like she'd been about to ask me to go with her. I quickly ran downstairs, showered, and dressed in my more presentable slacks and a short-sleeve, button-down shirt. Finally, I grabbed a can of pop and the directions, followed by my car keys, and took off into town.

"You're early." Rei smiled as she climbed into the passenger side of the car before letting me close the door for her. I smiled and nodded. She was dressed in a more casual outfit today, similar to the one she wore the first day we met. Blue jeans and a black t-shirt, simple, and yet she still looked every bit as amazing as if she'd worn a prom dress.

"Another bad habit of mine." I chuckled as I climbed into the driver's seat. "So, where to?" I asked.

"Well, do you have a suit for tomorrow?" She asked.

"A suit? For the party?" I asked. She giggled and nodded.

"They're renewing their vows at the church first, followed by a reception party. It'll be just like going to a wedding, Alex." I sighed and shook my head. I had a business suit, but it was far too bland for something like a wedding. "Well then, it looks like we're going to the mall."

"Shopping at the mall?" I smiled a bit at the thought. "I haven't done that in a few years." the mall had boutiques of all kinds, including electronics. Off we drove, and as we went, Rei gave me a few more lessons in the spoken Japanese language. The day seemed to be going well. Until we pulled into the parking lot anyway. We had just started to get out of the car when a large, black van pulled up alongside of us on the passenger side.

"Alex!" I heard Rei scream. I turned around just in time to see a man pointing something at my face. He pulled the trigger, a flash of light went off and then everything went black.


	9. Enter Ares

The next night, a strange-looking hermit with a hunched back made his way up the street. A brown trench coat covering his body and a matching fedora hiding his face as he supported his weight on a sturdy, oaken walking stick. Slowly his feet trudged forward, his breathing was irregular and sharp. His head lifted slightly and he peered down the long winding road in front of him.

"Long walk... such a... such a such a such a looooong walk... tee hee hee." Came the voice of Sergeant Glitch as he trudged along, heading towards Alex's house. No one would notice him creeping slowly towards his victim's residence, now would they? Even if they did, who was going to question a lowly old man hobbling his way down the road? At least the plan sounded good. Too bad he didn't share Michiru's intuition.

"Hey, old man, you look as though you have a long walk ahead of you." Haruka's voice boomed out, causing Glitch to jump and drop his cane, thus falling to the position where he supported his upper body with hands. "Where is the girl?"

"Ahhhh, so you found me..." Glitch ripped off the trench coat revealing his uniform beneath it. His head was sickeningly thin and shaved bald. Giant, blue eyes were tainted by blood shot veins and the fact that they appeared to be bulging out of his skull. "And now... we get to play... whack a mole... my favorite!" He brandished a matching pair of odd looking hand held weapons. They looked like bladed disks, except for the holes that appeared to be attached to pistol barrels in each.

"I was hoping you'd say something like that." Haruka grinned and took off after him. Dashing forward and focusing in on his wicked grinning face she moved at lightning speeds and threw an expertly timed and placed punch. But her fist connected with only air. The odd looking man had vanished. "What the... PUNGH!" She cried out when he shot up from beneath her, slamming his fist into her chin and launching her backwards about ten feet.

"GYAH HAHAHAHAHA!" He laughed uproariously as Sailor Uranus climbed back to her feet, scowling and enraged. Neptune grinned and glanced at the street behind him. Naturally, Glitch stopped laughing and turned to look.

"URANUS WORLD SHAKING!" The command word was spoken and when Glitch turned back to face the two girls, he saw only a ball of light flying directly at his face. It connected with an enormous power and launched him backwards, slamming him, back first into the side of a compact car that had been parked on the curb. The driver side windows were shattered and a nice two foot dent was put into the frame.

"NEPTUNE DEEP SEA SUBMERGE!" Another battle cry from behind him. He jumped away from the car and rolled off to the right, barely evading the blast and rolling back to his feet. Blood seeped slowly from his mouth and nose and he grinned at them.

"Oh ho ho... the girly girls want to play those kinds of games... we like those kinds of games too..." He put the two pistols away and opened a pouch on his belt, producing a handful of tiny white pills he shoved them into his mouth and began chewing furiously.

"What the...?" Uranus asked.

"I don't know... but it can't be good." Neptune replied. "The others are on their way."

"Good, from the looks of things we're going to need some backup." Uranus said as they watched him swallow the pills and start shaking. He acted as though he were seizing up, his limbs and body flailing and convulsing at really fast speeds, but then he stopped.

"And now feel the power of The Glitch..." He said before running towards them. At first he seemed to have a normal enough speed, but as he approached, he continued accelerating until he was, literally, running laps around them at speeds so fast he was creating a whirlwind. The wind speeds within the funnel were escalating rapidly and before too much time had passed, both Uranus and Neptune began to feel the effects; it was getting harder to breathe.

"Not... gonna... happen..." Uranus growled and produced her space sword, getting ready to jab it into the cyclone when a laser blast fired and knocked it out of her hand. The blade began spinning around in the tornado dangerously and both of the Senshi cried out time and again as gashes appeared in their skin.

"SHINE AQUA ILLUSION!" A cry went out and a torrent of water rushed down the street pounding into the whirlwind and knocking all three of them about fifteen feet down the street. Uranus and Neptune were badly injured, but alive. Glitch hopped back to his feet, now soaking wet and grinned.

"Yay!" He hopped up and down for a moment, making splashing sounds in the puddles at his feet. "New playmates! You want to find the girl too, do you?" He brandished the two pistol looking contraptions again.

"I got this one..." Jupiter stepped forward, the antennae extending from the jewel on her tiara and crackling to life.

"Tee hee, die!" Glitch rushed forward again, two massive waves appearing to evaporate the puddles on the ground as he appeared to nearly vanish from sight rushing towards Sailor Jupiter at unbelievably fast speeds.

"JUPITER THUNDERBOLT!" The electrical ball fired from her palms but as fast as it was, it seemed to pass right through Glitch who charged and spun in a circle, swinging the circular blade of his pistol right at her throat. Her eyes wide, she saw only a flash of gold and a shower of sparks, something had halted the blade.

"What the..?" Glitch growled, looking around. "Who, oh who who who who who's out there?" He yelled, darting over to each parked car on the street, looking for whatever force had interrupted him.

"Tell me where she is, and I will spare your life." A masculine voice echoed through the darkness.

"Why don't you come out and let me show you where she is... tee hee hee." Even the Senshi started looking around for the source of the voice.

"Why don't you come find me and let me beat it out of you?" The voice echoed across the grounds again. Glitch grinned and held up his pistols again.

"Ready or noooot... here I... PUNGH! GYAK!" A sharp kick to the back followed by a sword pommel strike to the chest had him floored, and a figure none of them had seen before now stood over him, at first it looked to be a distortion of light that flickered in and out of existence, until a series of energy waves dissipated the invisibility that masked him and a soldier dressed in purple, red, and gold now stood, a golden blade aimed at Glitch's throat.

"Here I am..." I finished his statement for him. "Now you will tell me where she is or I will end your pathetic excuse for a life."

"And... and... and... do I get to know your name?" He asked, leaning his head up ever so slightly.

"Commander Ares." I responded from inside the suit. It was empowering, the suit provided everything that I lacked in terms of physical and martial prowess. Muscle amplification devices made me faster, stronger, and more dextrous than I'd ever thought possible. Programmed routines allowed me to perform martial arts maneuvers without actually having to know how to do them myself.

"Commander Ares... heh... we'll see how well you can command when MY commander arrives... tee hee hee." I pressed the tip of the blade into the softer flesh of his neck just beneath his adam's apple.

"I will not ask again." I growled.

"Oh, the Mars Princess is located in the warehouse district... Can't tell you where, of course, classified information it is... tee hee hee... but but but but but... what I CAN do is arrange for a place and time where you can pick her up... say tomorrow morning... in the mall parking lot." I lifted my other hand and aimed my palm at his face. The golden gauntlet around my wrist began contorting and disassembling, then reassembling into a massive cannon that extended three feet beyond my hand, putting the muzzle only inches away from his face. "Kill me... and you get nothing..."

"Ares!" Sailor Moon stepped forward. "This could be our only chance, we need to do as he says for now..."

"As you wish, Sailor Moon." The cannon retracted and I withdrew my sword, stepping back and vanishing again beneath the invisibility field. "Go now and prepare whatever ambush you wish for tomorrow morning. If she is not there, though, be warned that I will hunt you down, and you will pray to whatever deity you revere that you are allowed to die when I'm finished with you." And with that, I faded away from the scene, Glitch jumped back to his feet and gave one final glance around the place.

"Ambush, say you?" He cackled. "Now why why why why why would I ever do something like that? Tee hee hee..." And with that he vanished, darting back off in the direction he'd come from.

"Alex, where are you?" Sailor Moon asked. The invisibility field dropped again, revealing my presence right beside them, making all of them jump. "What were you thinking? You could've at least warned us that it was done!" My helmet visor folded up and I pulled the helmet off, revealing that my eyes were widened and I was shaking a fair bit.

"Are, are you okay?" Minako asked walking up to me. I opened my mouth to say something and then immediately turned away and ran over to the privacy waiting behind a parked car, falling to my hands and knees and vomiting all over the ground. "Alex?" They started to run over, but I held up a hand.

"P-please... just, give me a moment." I managed to get out before wretching my guts out again. After a few more moments, I stood back up, albeit a little on the shaky side. "Oh my god... I can't believe I just did that..." I sighed, leaning against the car. "What a rush..."

"Not bad, rookie." Sailor Uranus said, she and Michiru finally gathering strength enough to rejoin the group. "Though we could've used your help a little faster."

"I got here as soon as I could, the suit was finished like, literally, minutes ago." I spoke quickly and was still really shaky. "Sorry, fight or flight reaction still has me, I'll cool down in a minute or two." I motioned with my hand.

"That suit does look pretty awesome though." Makoto nodded. "Wait, so that was you that saved me?" I nodded shakily.

"The, um, the sword is composed of a high density alloy, it can pretty much stop anything in it's tracks, provided that I can get there fast enough."

"And the cannon?" Minako chuckled. "A little bit of overkill, don't you think?"

"Useful enough... I hope." I replied. "The cannon hasn't been tested yet, and I'm not sure the physics equations were done correctly."

"What happens if they're not right?" Usagi asked.

"Could be nothing, could be the equivalent of a nuclear bomb going off inside my suit, hard to say." I replied, starting to cool down and regain control of my breathing. "Well, I'm fairly certain I should get home and empty my bladder. I'll see you guys tomorrow morning?" They nodded.

"I can't wait to see the look on her face when you show up." Usagi said. I smiled and blushed a bit but nodded quietly. I just couldn't wait to see her face period, regardless of what look was on it.


	10. The Dawning of a New Realization

The next morning, I arrived at the meeting location, cloaked and invisible, far earlier than anyone else had, finding a good perch, I sat and waited as the sun rose on the horizon. My visor's scans revealed the presence of several other cloaked figures, though they hadn't seemed to notice me yet. If they had, they weren't paying me any attention. And finally, the black van appeared and out stepped Glitch, three of his men, and a bound and gagged Rei Hino.

"Oh oh oh oh... are we gonna play hide and seek again, Ares?" Glitch asked hopping up and down. Rei looked around as though she were frightened of something. "Tardiness is very unbecoming of a Commanding Officer, you know, or are you going for the... 'stylishly late'... feel?" He produced a pistol and held it to her head, causing her to close her eyes. "Make me wait any longer and I'mma paint this town red, tee hee hee..."

"That's enough, Glitch." My voice boomed across the parking lot's P.A. System. He looked around and sighed, nodding and lowering his pistol.

"Clever clever clever! You're a good one, Ares! Ohhhhh come on, let's fight! I wanna see who's REALLY the best..."

"Release her and drive away, Glitch. And take your cloaked thugs with you or else my first shot will prove it right now." He nodded and tightened his jaw, releasing her bonds and removing the gag before pushing her away from him. Immediately the cloaked figures all fired shots, the gunshots forming a perimeter around Rei.

"Got a better plan, Ares. We fight, and the winner gets to keep her! Deny me, and you may kill me... but she still dies..." Damn, this wasn't going to go well.

"Fine, I'll fight you, but first, you send your thugs away and let her go." I said. "You have my word."

"Ohhhh, very well, I suppose it's best that way, no distractions!" I watched as the cloaked thugs all vanished.

"You're clear, Rei, go home." I said over the loud speakers. I waited until she was well out of the way before standing up and walking towards him, dropping my cloaking field and drawing my sword. "Alright then, Glitch, let's do this."

"How'd you get my name, hmmmmm?" He asked. "Inside source, maybe?"

"Maybe." I replied. "Are we going to fight or chit chat?" I picked up my stance and he drew his pistols.

"Ohhhhh, yeah..." He growled under his breath before rushing at me. He swung the pistols around, using the circular blades as melee weapons and my sword deflected blow after blow before I spun around and slashed downward, opening a gash across his chest that spattered blood on the ground. He cried out and staggered back but after a moment or two, I watched as the wounds healed. "Nanomachines... tee hee hee... you think you're the only one with a pet machine?" He rushed at me again and the exchange repeated, but this time one of his pistols broadsided me in the helmet, knocking me to the side and a second attack put a slash down the back of my armor. My visor flickered with the slash and then powered down. The A.I. Had been shut down, it was now just me inside a suit of armor. I staggered forwards, away from the fight for a moment.

"Ohhhhh, did I take out your targeting systems?" He cackled. I clenched my jaws, how could he have possibly known that? I had to finish this fast now, or else he was going to pick me apart. I spun around, and swung the sword, broadsiding him across the face and sending him flipping away from me. As he was landing, I reactivated the cloaking field and took off. "NO! ARES YOU COME BACK HERE!" Glitch roared as I vanished.

"Jackson, Jackson come in." I said over the communications array.

"What's up, Ares?" Jackson's voice responded.

"My targeting systems are down and visor functionality is compromised, what's the mission status?" I asked, starting to feel the onset of the panic and adrenaline.

"The package is in the clear, Ares, you are advised to disengage." Jackson responded.

"Copy that, where are the others?" I asked, trying to control my breathing.

"The others?" Jackson asked.

"Yes, Jackson, The Senshi, where are they?"

"Oh, um... scanning... it appears that they all overslept, looks like you're on your own, Ares." He replied. "Repeat advise to disengage, break off and head back home."

"ARES! I WILL HUNT HER DOWN! DO YOU HEAR ME ARES?" Glitch roared across the parking lot.

"Negative, Jackson, I'm gonna have to try the cannon."

"Ares, that is ill advised, I repeat that is very ill advised, with targeting systems down how do you intend to use it?"

"Manual aiming, of course. Besides, I think I have a plan." I sighed. "Ares out." I stood up and walked over towards him again extending the cannon and taking aim on him as I dropped the cloaking field. "Game over, Glitch. You lose."

"Ooohhh, experimental equipment? Are you certain that's a good idea, Ares?" He asked grinning. I charged the cannon, the inner barrel began spinning and glowing white hot with the collected energy ready to discharge. Glitch's eyes widened. "No... you wouldn't dare risk the lives of everyone in this building behind me..."

"ARES AFTERBURN CANNON FIRE!" I roared as the cannon went to fire it's shot. It shorted out and electricity crawled over my armor, shutting down my circuits internally and Glitch laughed.

"BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" He laughed as loudly as possible before running at me. "NOW YOU DIE, YOU ARMORLESS FOOL!" He roared. I gritted my teeth and threw my entire weight into a backswung sword strike, spinning and slashing him across the chest and spattering more blood, but this time he fell to the ground and started crying in pain. "AAAAGH! NO! H-how...?" He asked as I fell to the ground, collapsing under the weight of my own powerless armor.

"Now, neither of us have machine pets, Glitch." I grunted out with a laugh. "But at least I still have a body armor." The electromagnetic shockwave that had exploded from my suit when I'd tried to fire the cannon had shorted out not only my suit, but every last one of his nano-machines as well. After a few more moments Sailor Mars rushed over.

"Ares! Are you alright?" She asked. I grunted a bit, trying to push myself into a standing position and glanced over at Glitch who was trying to stand up as well. I growled and nodded.

"You're a sight for sore eyes..." I growled out. She smiled for a moment until she saw the furious expression on my face. "As for this little guy... GRAAAAHHH!" I poured all of my strength into one last dash as he stood up, shoulder ramming him in the back and listening as the sickening 'CRACK' indicated that my aim had been right on the money. I then collapsed again, breathless, and too weak too even move.

"Can't feel my legs! OH no! My legs! My legs! My legs! Legs legs legs legs..." Glitch began sobbing pounding his fists on the pavement.

"Your hunting days... are over..." I gasped out as I laid there beside him.

"Sailor Mars! Commander Ares!" Sailor Moon and the others finally showed up. "Looks like we missed everything."

"Not everything." I grunted out. "Dust him." Sailor Moon nodded and started to reach her scepter skywards, but stopped upon seeing Glitch sobbing about his legs.

"Wait, Ares, look at him, he's not a threat to us anymore." She said. "He looks as though he could use healing more than a dusting."Just then glitch flipped over and stared at her in shock, like he was terrified of her.

"YOU WILL NOT!" He roared before slapping his belt buckle and fading from view. I growled for a moment but finally managed to lift my heavy arm up to my chest, pressing the insignia.

"Ares, power down." I grunted out. A circle of light passed over my body and in it's wake, my clothes were left and the armor was gone. I took in a few deep breaths and continued laying there for a moment. My clothes were drenched in sweat and my hair was matted down.

"Are you alright, Alex?" Rei, who'd powered down as well, ran over.

"Good now, I need to get that fixed." I sighed, finally sitting up. "How about you? Are you alright?"

"Good now, thank you." She said wrapping her arms around me in a tight hug. "So are you ready to go home, Mr. Hero?" She giggled at me.

"Mr. Hero, is it?" I responded. "I think I like that. Especially since I'm still alive to brag about it this time." I chuckled.

"Yeah, but you did fail to stay covert." She waggled a finger at me.

"Ah well, I'll have to try again next time." I nodded, climbing back to my feet and using the nearby lamp post for support as my legs were still a bit wobbly.

"You need to work out." Makoto laughed, clapping me on the back. I chuckled and nodded after almost falling over.

"Yeah, I get that a lot." I replied before fixing my glasses. "Though, I'm curious why it was you guys slept in."

"Slept in?" Usagi asked. "Yeah, like Mamoru would really let me sleep in. I wish." I stopped and looked up at them.

"Then, what kept you?" I asked, a confused expression on my face. Jackson had told me that they'd slept in, but they hadn't, they simply hadn't shown up until it was almost too late. It didn't make any sense, that kind of thing never happened in the anime.

"We got here as fast as we could, Alex." Minako said with a soft tone, it almost sounded sad.

"It just doesn't make sense..." I tried to wrap my mind around the situation, sure the enemies were different. But it was still the same world, wasn't it? The laws of physics that governed life on this world couldn't have changed just because of new enemies.

"Look, dude, I think you're putting too much thought into it." Makoto said stepping forward. "Our being late didn't make any difference, you were here, and you saved this day. Welcome to the ranks of the super heroes." She smiled and patted me on the back. My eyes widened all at once. The laws of physics didn't change when new enemies showed up in an anime, but they certainly could if a new hero showed up.

"So that's it..." I mumbled to myself, stepping forward, away from the group. "I need to go home, I have some thinking to do." My voice reflected the boiling conflict within me. I'd grown up idolizing these girls, who they were, what they did, and how they did it. Now, I was standing in a prime position to completely uproot that system.

"Should I...?" Rei started towards me.

"Thank you, Rei, I'm glad I could save you, but I think I need to be alone for a while." I said before limping off towards my house. It was a long walk, and under normal circumstances, I would collapse from hunger long before I made it, it was time to see exactly how much had changed since my arrival here.


	11. The Winds of Change

It was as I suspected, I made the walk home and closed the door behind me, walking straight out into the garage and stepping up to the 'nano-tank' as I'd come to call it, where my battle suit was in the process of being repaired. I placed my hands on the glass and stared at the suit for a few moments. It represented the epitome of everything I'd ever wanted, the climax of all of my dreams and aspirations, and now, the harbinger of my worst nightmare. I sighed and lowered my chin, allowing my forehead to rest against the glass and closing my eyes for a moment.

"I didn't want this..." I said under my breath.

"Didn't you?" Jackson's voice sounded off from behind me and I spun around to find him sitting in the front corner of the garage. "You performed far better than we expected today. The Senshi weren't even needed to bring down Glitch, though he'll be back. Next time, you'll have to destroy him."

"What about Usagi's thoughts?" I asked. "What if we can heal him instead?" Jackson chuckled and shook his head with a sigh.

"You poor naïve little boy. Haven't you noticed how much this world has changed already?" He asked. "As we speak, buildings in Tokyo are being retrofitted with space aged technologies that didn't exist here two months ago. Vehicles with hovercraft tech are in the prototype stages, and holographic televisions are scheduled to hit store shelves in six months. Amazing how these worlds reflect the spirit of their greatest champion, isn't it?"

"No, this isn't what I wanted, Jackson. The girls have busted their asses to get where they are now..." I stopped and stared for a moment, lifting a hand to my mouth with widened eyed.

"Did you just say a swear word?" He asked with a slight smile. "Funny, I thought this anime was PG."

"How do I stop it?" I asked. He laughed.

"As I said, Alex, you are this world's greatest champion, there are only two ways to stop it. Change your very nature, or die." He said. "And how badly do you think poor Rei Hino's heart would be broken if you were found dead?"

"You meant for this to happen, didn't you?" I asked.

"And so he begins to see a piece of the bigger picture." Jackson sighed. "What did you think this was just about some pathetic weapon? Did you think we needed your brain? That nano-vat can build those suits at a rate of three per week, and we have hundreds of thousands of them that are five times more powerful. You were brought here because we believed you were the hero that this world needed." He looked around the garage. "I had my doubts at first, but I'm beginning to think that maybe, just maybe, The Grand Master has the right idea."

"And what happens to The Senshi? Isn't the hero supposed to have a team?"

"So you DO know these rules, The Senshi are fine, for now. But as plot develops, I'm sure that even you are aware of how expendable supporting characters can be."

"Go to hell, Jackson." I said turning back to the suit. "Go to hell and take your lies with you."

"Sure thing, Alex." He chuckled. "Know that Hakai Suru is fast approaching, and his commanding officers with him. Glitch is only the peon of the group. You're going to need help if..."

"I want my team." I replied. "If I'm going to continue fighting, I need my knights." Jackson turned and looked at me with a smug grin on his face.

"We thought you might say that." He nodded and stepped out of the garage, moving into the house and then out through the front door. My move was a risky one. I knew what happened to anime characters that didn't receive any screen time, they eventually faded into obscurity and vanished. Crystal Tokyo was a dream that had to be made a reality, it was the whole meaning behind the series, without the hope of it existing, The Senshi would slip out of the picture and everything that I had come to love about this world would be lost.

I began hacking away at the laptop they'd given me. Calling for the other knights would be a play against time, and if I didn't plan my next move out just right, I could have been doing nothing more than speeding up the process.

The world had changed, everyone drove around in various forms of mechs and the labor force employed battlesuits retrofitted with tools to speed along construction. I stood at the base of a long set of concrete steps that lead up to an arch capped with an arched pagoda. I couldn't read the Japanese characters on the sign, but I knew all too well what they said. The cherry blossom petals blew about in the wind as I started my ascension to the grounds of Hikawa Shrine. My eyes widened in horror as I watched a wrecking crew destroy the shrine and begin building a technologically advanced skyscraper where the shrine once stood. Rei, in her Mika's clothes, sobbed loudly in front of the construction site, begging the workers to stop. I fell to my knees on the sidewalk and just stared, horror-struck.

"What's up, Alex?" Tyrone walked up behind me, zapping me out of my daze. I turned to face him and the scene changed to a night time street, we were both dressed in our armor. "Isn't this power awesome? Thanks for getting me involved, buddy." He clapped me on the shoulder.

"Yeah, thanks a lot, Alex!" Bruce flashed his playboy smile at me with Minako under his arm. "Never could've done this without you." I had a perplexed mask glued to my face as the scene began changing again as Greg walked up to me. Our armors faded away and we stood in front of each other again, this time, as though we were floating amongst the clouds. Greg was now wearing a short-sleeve, white, button-down shirt and a pair of slacks. Couple with his short brown hair and fiery brown eyes, he looked really familiar to me.

"Most of all, Alex, I want to thank you for reuniting me with my love. Maybe you're not such a traitor after all." He smiled and turned around for a moment, then stopped and held up a finger as if in thought. "Hey, do you ever wonder where the Senshi's power comes from?" He asked, then he blushed for a moment and waved his hand dismissively. "Ah, forget it, probably not important anyway, see ya around buddy." He waved over his shoulder and walked away, fading into the clouds as they quickly turned to black, billowing smoke that blew away to reveal the new Tokyo engulfed in flames.

"The more you build..." The deep, demonic voice or the man in black armor announced it's presence as he stepped forward from behind a pile of rubble. "...the more you give me to destroy."

"NO!" I roared sitting up from where I'd fallen asleep at my workstation. A car horn was blowing outside. I quickly got up and ran through the house to the front door and threw it open. It was a taxi-cab. I ran over, rubbing my eyes and leaned in the passenger side window.

"Hey, are you Alex Simpleton?" He asked.

"Yeah, what's up?" I responded, furrowing my brows.

"You're running late, Mr. and Mrs. Chiba sent me to pick you up." He said. My eyes widened, the anniversary party?

"Dammit all, okay, tell you what, pull into the driveway, give me ten minutes and I'll double what they paid you." The cabbie grinned widely.

"You got it buddy!" I ran back into the house just in time to answer the phone.

"Alex? You're still there?" Makoto's voice asked.

"Overslept, I'll explain later, I'll be there in twenty minutes." I said.

"Good, hurry up already." I hung up the phone and took the world's fastest shower before dressing in my business suit, replacing the typical white button down and black neck tie with a red shirt and purple neck tie, it looked pretty good all things considered. I then quickly darted back up the stairs and out the front door.

"What time does the ceremony start?" I asked the cabby.

"In about fifteen minutes." He said. "I can get you there in ten."

"Do it and we'll make it triple." I handed him the cash and buckled my seat belt. The cabby grinned and floored the accelerator and we did, in fact, make it in eight minutes fifty-seven seconds. I quickly hopped out of the cab, taking the man's business card before hopping up the steps and walking in the church with a sigh of relief when I noticed that the ceremony hadn't yet begun.

My relief washed away quickly when Rei began marching, rather angrily, towards me. Let me tell you all something, there are many things in this world, or any world, that frighten me. Chemical spills, Arachnids, Ghosts, and power-absorbing monsters, but nothing, I repeat, NOTHING, will ever scare me more than Rei's anger.

"Where have you been?" She hissed at me, grabbing me by the wrist and dragging me to a pew where we sat down with the other girls. I looked around and noticed that none of the girls were acting as bride's maids.

"Small ceremony?" I asked in a whisper. Rei nodded.

"I'm sorry to get so short with you, Alex, I'm just really nervous... about a lot of things..." She said. "I've never..."

"It's starting!" Makoto's whisper cut her off and we turned to see Usagi, dressed in her wedding gown, lined up at the back with her father, and Mamoru stepped up to the altar, where the priest awaited patiently. Interrupted again, but it was no big deal, Rei and I would have plenty of time to talk later. Time seemed to be blurring together for me, I felt as though I were trapped in a tail wind that was pushing me forward faster and faster into something that I had no desire to see, let alone encounter.


	12. The Source of Power

"You look fantastic, by the way." I complimented Rei on her dress. A simple, crimson, silk gown that accented every major feature of her build. It was my turn to ride shotgun in her vehicle as we made our way from the chapel to the reception hall. The ceremony had been every bit as opulent and beautiful as I'd expected it to be, afterwards, Rei had offered to take me to the reception since we needed to discuss a few things anyway. She smiled and blushed lightly as she drove.

"Thank you, you don't look half bad yourself." She replied. "Alex, I just want you to know that I really do appreciate you saving me the other day." I nodded and tightened my lip line for a moment at the thought. "I know that the appreciation isn't necessary, I know you'd have done it whether I appreciate it or not, but it is, and I do."

"I was happy to." I said. "Well, in a manner of speaking." She nodded again.

"I understand." She chuckled lightly. "I was trying to tell you before the ceremony started, I've never felt these kinds of feelings towards another man before." She said before taking a deep breath. "You one said that you blamed me..."

"I do blame you." I said with a nod. Her face fell from the vague, hopeful smile into a look that bordered on despair. "I blame you for making me fall in love. I blame love for making me save you, and I blame my lack of skill in doing so for my death in that game. Obviously, I blame my troubles during those times on my character's death, but if you trace the cause down to it's original roots, then yes, I blame you."

"So, you loved me?" She asked, her voice starting to crack slightly.

"Loved? No." I answered. "Loved is a past tense word, indicating that I don't anymore, hence, not accurate." I tightened my jaw slightly and turned to look at her for a moment. She nodded and I saw a tear that had built up in her right eye trace a line of running mascara down her face. "I'm sorry, Rei, I didn't mean to make you cry..." I reached up and traced the black line back up with my finger tip, not allowing it to dry.

"It's alright, I'm just really confused right now." She said. "You left the parking lot and we didn't know what to think, and I was afraid that you thought of me as weak..."

"Weak?" I laughed. "Are you kidding? Without that armor you could beat my butt any day of the week and twice on Sunday." I was very cautious not to use the swear word that had first come to mind. Rei smiled as she pulled into the parking lot and found a spot in the back corner. After parking it she turned to me.

"Alex, do you know everything I would be giving up if I pursued a relationship with you?" She asked. "My entire life, I've been training to be a priestess. My vows to the queen..."

"Usagi pointed out that those were made like another lifetime ago..." I said. She cocked her head at an angle and looked at me suspiciously. "Hey, I'm just saying." I followed up with my hands in the defensive position.

"If I gave all of that up, I would need to know that it was for something that isn't going to be superficial in ten, fifteen, twenty years. I would need to know that it's something real and that it would be forever." She said. I nodded and looked thoughtful for a moment.

"I understand." I replied. "Can I ask you something, now?" I said. Rei nodded as she fixed her make-up. I took in a deep breath and let it out in the form of a sigh. "Do you realize how much I've already given up for you?" She stopped and blinked for a moment, looking over at me.

"Oh my... I wasn't thinking, Alex, I'm sorry..." She started to apologize, I held up a hand.

"It's fine, I'm not upset or anything, I'm just saying, if there is anything else I have that I can sacrifice to prove it to you, please, let me know." She finished her make-up and turned to me.

"What if I asked you to give up technology and be a farmer?" She asked.

"Then I'll raise chickens, pigs, and cows." I said with a nod.

"And if I asked you to never leave my side, ever, for any reason?" She asked.

"Hmmm..." I thought for a moment. "What about bathroom breaks?" I asked. She cut a small laugh and nodded.

"I suppose you could have those."

"Then I accept." I nodded. "Next."

"And if I asked you to die for me?" She asked, sliding across the bench seat, a little closer to me. Our eyes were locked onto one another's as I smiled.

"Again?" I asked. She nodded.

"Oh okay, if you provide the rocks and the evil demon girls, I suppose I can provide the entertainment." She giggled lightly as our faces began experiencing the effects of proximity-based gravity and after another moment or two of it...

"Hey guys... oh! Sorry!" Makoto's face appeared behind Rei and then quickly vanished again, about three shades of red darker than when it had appeared the first time. Rei and I both smiled and blushed, taking a moment to recover before stepping out of the car. Makoto's grinning face glanced back and forth between us. "Weeeell? What did I interrupt?" She asked.

"You have no shame, do you, Makoto?" I asked with a chuckle.

"Nope, none." she replied. "And if I'm not mistaken, Alex, you have a promise to keep, don't you?" Rei looked at me curiously.

"I know, I know. We'll be along in a few minutes, alright?" I asked. She smiled and nodded before walking, rather quickly, back over to the doors and whispering and giggling up a storm with Minako and Ami on their way into the building.

"So, what's this promise?" Rei asked. "Usagi put you up to something, didn't she?" Rei asked.

"Um, maybe?" I replied with a grin before offering her my arm. She slipped her left arm around my elbow and held onto my upper arm with her right hand as we walked towards the reception hall. "Before we go in, Rei, there's one more thing I want you to know." I said, taking a deep breath. "I would never ask you to give up anything for me. Everything that I've given up for you was given willingly and without expectation. If giving up those things also means giving up your happiness, I'd rather you not." She bit her lip and nodded slightly, tightening her grip on my arm.

"I know, Alex. Thank you." She said before we walked into the building. As soon as we did, Usagi tackled Rei with an enormous grin on her face.

"Is it true?" She asked. "Did you kiss him?" Rei's face turned about as red as her gown.

"Actually, we were interrupted..." Rei answered quietly. Usagi cackled in delight before dragging the both of us over to another area of the building, just in front of the dance floor.

"The music should be starting any minute now. Enjoy the party!" She said in a sing-song voice before hopping back off through the crowd to find Mamoru. About that same time, as if on cue, the music turned on, a romantic slow song being first on the list. Immediately a few of the couples present began walking out onto the dance floor in pairs. I took in a sharp breath and turned to Rei, holding out my hand. She smiled curiously and placed her hand in mine before walking out onto the floor with me.

The dance was a simple one, we moved around on the floor, my hand on her hip and hers on my shoulder, our eyes were locked and I had a sudden flashback of my nightmare from that morning. My sharp breath must've alerted her because her face suddenly displayed concern.

"Are you alright?" She asked. I nodded.

"It's just... well... I have a question to ask, though it may not be the appropriate time." I replied. She nodded and smiled, drawing slowly closer to me until her arms were draped around my neck and mine around her back. "We'll have time later though, this moment is just... perfect." I sighed and leaned my head down, resting my check against her hair and breathing in the scent, everything was just... too... perfect. As the song ended, she looked up at me.

"Is something wrong?" She asked, looking at me with a concerned expression. I sighed.

"How do you guys do it?" I asked. "I mean, how do you guys manage to still have fun and live life while knowing that they're out there waiting for the right time to strike?" Rei smiled and nodded, understanding permeating the expression on her face.

"We remember that there isn't much point in saving a world that we can't enjoy ourselves." She replied. I chuckled for a moment and sighed. "You're still new to this, Alex, give it time, it'll come as naturally to you as it has to us." We walked off the dance floor, nodding to Usagi and Mamoru before stepping outside, a gust of wind blew past us and Rei folded her arms across her chest, hunching her shoulders for a moment. I smiled and unfastened my suit jacket, removing it and draping it over her shoulders, to which she smiled and pulled it closed around her upper body.

We started towards her car and I draped an arm loosely around her back, inciting her to lean her head against my chest. The gentle pressure inflicted far greater wounds than she ever could have known.

"I need your help, Rei." I said finally, my voice quiet and solemn. She looked up at me, smiling at first, but then fading into a worrisome expression. I felt her arms tighten around her own chest beneath my jacket.

"Alright, Alex, what gives? You're really sending me some mixed messages here."

"It's the world, this..." I stopped with a sigh and closed my eyes with a slight shake of my head. "Your world is in real danger, and I could very well be the one responsible for it."

"What are you talking about?" She said. "You're a hero..."

"That's exactly it." I replied. "I thought, when I began accepting this place as reality, that the rules here were no different from the rules of my world, but that isn't the case. This world is far more dynamic than I ever thought possible. It continues to rebuild itself to match its hero... That hero used to be Sailor Moon..." Rei laughed and put her hands on her hips as she stepped out in front of me, a playful grin on her face.

"My, my, aren't we egotistical all of a sudden?" She chuckled. "You can't save one girl and call yourself the world's hero, Alex. It doesn't work that way."

"Maybe, but they warned me that it would be changing, and soon. I think there might be a way to preserve it, but I need you to help me figure it out." She sighed.

"Alright, Alex, I'll bite. What do you need me to do?" She asked.

"I need to know the source of your powers." I replied. She widened her eyes for a moment and cocked her head to the side.

"What are you thinking?" Her voice's tone had changed. "The source of our powers? You know what it is already, you said so yourself."

"I know about the pens, the wands, the icons, the weapons, the suits, and the attacks, but the true source was never mentioned." I replied. "I know it's a lot to ask, I'm sorry... but... I love this place, I love everything in it, I love you, Rei." I said with a sigh. "And I love it all just the way it is, I can't explain it in any way that you would understand, I just..."

"And why wouldn't I understand it, Alex? That was a very condescending remark." She now looked angry. I was trying so hard to explain, but it didn't seem to want to come out right.

"I didn't mean to be condescending, Rei, I'm not trying to dwell in differences between my world and yours, I want to become part of it..."

"Then inevitably you will change it, Alex." She said, her expression softening a little. "My grandfather used to tell me something as a little girl. He said: 'You cannot have your cake and eat it too'." I chuckled, my dad used to say the same thing to me. "You can either watch the world from afar and admire it the way it is. Or you can partake of it and your presence will change it, hopefully, for the better."

"And what if the changes that I bring about destroy the future?" I asked. "What if my alien presence here results in Crystal Tokyo never coming to be?" My innermost thoughts spat themselves out. Rei stepped back and sighed.

"Alex, I don't know where this is coming from, and I don't know what it is your trying to tell me..."

"The rules from the anime apply to the world as a whole, Rei." I said finally. "But those rules are beginning to change. For example, when I first showed up here, I was incapable of uttering certain words, words that are usually associated with really bad things..."

"Swears?" She asked.

"Swears, right, sorry." I shook my head. "Anyway, last night I was able to swear when I was frustrated about something. Jackson has told me that technology levels have skyrocketed in just the last two months alone."

"That's just progress, Alex. What are you afraid of? You're a part of that progress, aren't you?" I started to reply but then just sighed and swallowed my words. "I'm trying to understand, Alex..."

"I had a dream, this dream told me that something is coming. Some kind of armored enemy who wants to burn everything to the ground, I think it might be Glitch's commander... I saw my friends from my world, encouraging me, and then one of them asked me if I knew where the powers of The Senshi came from..."

"Love, Alex." Rei replied simply, with a smile and a shake of her head. "I can't believe that you of all people didn't catch on to that. Our powers get stronger because our love for each other gets stronger. Love takes many forms and has many names, but in the end, the concept is all that matters here."

"Could it really be something so abstract?" I asked, after a moment of silence. "Doesn't come from a planet or moon, it's not in the blood?"

"The love of your friends and the drive to protect them." She replied. "Maybe that's why you have issues with it." she suggested, causing me to look up out of curiosity. She stepped forward with a smile and placed her hand on my cheek. "You have issues with it because you can't measure it and package it for sale, it isn't science."

"But it is the overarching theme." I said, looking thoughtful for a moment. "Now I'm really screwed." I sighed. "Love, well... it isn't really my strong suit." I said, sitting on the hood of her car. She laughed and sat beside me.

"Really? Gee, I never would've guessed." She joked, bumping me with her shoulder. "All you need to do is be patient, you'll understand in time." She leaned against me again and I returned my arm around her upper body with a sigh.

"I hope so, Rei. I really do."


	13. A Rock and A Hard Place

"So, Glitch failed to recover her. I wish I could say that I was surprised." The deep, menacing voice echoed across the massive empty space. A monstrous presence sat in an equally monstrous chair three men in front of him kneeling, and a scantily clad woman in black standing beside his dark throne. His features were completely masked behind metal plates. "I will have her, gentlemen, this fact must not be mistaken. Too many times the mistake has been made to send merely one unit after another to meet their demise at the hands of one's adversaries. I am not as foolish. I will make planet-fall in six months time. I am sending all of you except for Alpha Squadron and The Witch. You will all three take your units to Earth and you will recover her and see to it that my wedding is prepared and ready for my arrival. If you fail me, you will not live to regret it."

"And Glitch, Commander?" The youngest of the three men asked.

"Hmph." The Commander's face could not be seen from behind his mask, though the smirk on his face was apparent in his voice inflexion. "Tell him that I said he's fired."

"And then what should we do with him?" The largest of the three men growled out.

"Fire him, of course." The commander's laugh was loud and sadistic, a perfect match for the evil glints in the eyes of the three men and the smirks on their faces. None, however, was quite so evil as the stone cold face of the woman standing beside him. Cold, calculating, and murderous in every way, something about that woman would turn a man's entire body to ice long before she could ever touch them.

"Testing Afterburn Cannon Mark 2." I stood out in the middle of the forest, far enough away from civilization that I could safely, and secretly, test fire the modifications to the cannon without interference. "Test fire one commencing in five, four, three..." I finished the count silently and squeezed the trigger hidden within the massive barrel. This time, the cannon actually fired. A high energy discharge mowed down five trees in front of me. "Initial test completely successfully."

"Copy that, Ares, now for the extended fire test." Jackson replied over the communications array.

"Copy, testing in five, four, three..." I charged the cannon and held the trigger down this time discharging a continuous beam of energy that mowed down an entire clearing in front of me. "Test completed successfully."

"Excellent. Now we need to test out the new targeting array, are you ready?" Jackson asked. The cannon folded back into my wrist and I brandished my sword.

"Fire at will." I replied. Almost immediately five cloaked drones appeared on my sensors. They began firing micro-pulse lasers, which is to say small, virtually harmless laser blasts, at me. The object of the exercise was to test my efficiency at dodging and deflecting such kinds of enemy fire. As they fired, I began dodging and weaving... well... the armor began dodging and weaving, I simply directed it's attention to where it needed to be. Within a few moments, all five drones had been destroyed. "Test completed successfully."

"Excellent, looks like we're finished here, Ares. Resume standby status and remedial simulation training until called to action." I nodded lightly, though my heart wasn't really in it. The suit was awesome, don't get me wrong. I loved little more than I did the fact that I was currently riding around in a semi-automated, mecha, battle suit. The problem was that the things I did love more were being endangered by the suit's existence. Funny how the irony of it all worked out. My love for Rei inspired me to become Commander Ares, and that becoming could very well have been the key to her undoing.

"Copy that, over and out." I picked up my stance and my boots began Ionizing the air around me feeding it through air vents in the suit and propelling it through the soles of my boots with such force that it thrusted me off the ground and into the air. My invisibility cloak was activated and I began flying over the city of Tokyo, bringing myself to a hover over the Hikawa Shrine. Rei was dressed in her Miko's garb as I lowered myself to the ground and powered off the boots. She had been sweeping the porch until I landed. My propulsion units were silent and incapable of detection by any means other than plain old eyesight. The light cloud of dust that kicked up as I landed alerted her to my presence and her reaction was immediate.

"BEGONE!" She cried out, swinging her arm in a wide arc and launching a single slip of paper with deadly accuracy, sticking it to the visor of my helmet. However, since my suit was powered by electricity and not spiritual energy of any kind, the tag vanished as soon as it came into contact. "What the...?" She asked, looking alarmed. I lowered my invisibility field and chuckled.

"Guess I'm just not stealthy enough to sneak up on you." I said as I walked up to her.

"Commander Ares, what a pleasant surprise." She smiled and bowed before righting herself and removing the tag from my visor. It had been a few weeks since the Anniversary bash and I'd been largely busy since then working on modifications and tweaks to the battle suit. "Is there something I can help you with? Or did you just come for a fortune telling?" Rei asked.

"Actually, see, there's this girl..." I said, motioning with my hands, to which Rei cocked an eyebrow. "See, I have something for her, something she asked for, and I was a bit too shy to give it to her when I last had the opportunity. I was wondering if you might help me out with this and see that she gets it."

"I'll do my best, Commander." Rei smiled and bowed. I reached inside the chest plate's hollow space and produced a manilla envelope with her name on it. "What is it?" She asked.

"The knowledge that you asked for." I replied with a smile. She turned around and opened the envelope, pulling from within a smaller envelope and a series of sketches and drawings. The sketches and drawings depicted what appeared to be an altar and arched trellis lined with red and white flowers on a hilltop at sunset. She flipped through them, also finding sketches of a wedding gown and a matching tuxedo. Each picture further into the stack drove her closer and closer to tears until she finally reached the smaller envelope, it had something else inside, something physical, small and hard. "What's this...?" She asked looking back but finding that I had vanished. She smiled and turned back to the envelope opening it and producing a small note from within.

_'Keep these in your hands hold them to your heart_

_So that when it's time to use them we will never again part.'_

Also contained within the envelope were a set of three rings. Her eyes widened in shock and she immediately dropped the broom and ran inside the shrine, the contents of the envelope clutched tightly to her chest.

I'd intended to go straight home upon vanishing from the shrine. I was still shaky enough around Rei that I didn't want to see her reaction in person, but I'd hoped to hear what she had to say about it in the aftermath, however, as fate would have it, that wasn't an option today.

As I was flying along my sensor array suddenly sounded an alarm, something was coming my direction and fast.

"Jackson, come in, I've got something on my six and I'll have to... PUNGH!" I cried out as the missile impacted my chest piece disabling my invisibility cloak and sending my flying even higher into the air.

"Ares? Ares, come in!" Jackson's voice called over my helmet's headset. I was winded and stunned by the force of the blast.

"Ares... here..." I gasped between breaths. "I've... been... hit..." I finally crashed to the ground Tearing through the ceiling of some sort of factory before bouncing off a couple of pieces of it's machinery and hitting the ground. My chest and back armor was banged up bad. My entire body ached as though I'd been slammed by a Mack Truck, and worse? It wasn't over yet. Automatic gunfire sprayed through the air sending The Employees running for cover. I slowly, and painfully staggered back to my feet. "I... need... help..." I gasped out to Jackson.

"Copy that Ares, The Senshi will be on their way shortly, you're gonna have to hold on until they arrive."

"ARES!" A voice shouted my name that I was unfamiliar with. "GLITCH SENDS HIS REGARDS!" The voice laughed. My sensors, though damaged, were still active enough to detect multiple soldiers running at me with one hanging back by the entrance. "ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE MYSELF, THOUGH. I AM LIEUTENANT HARD ROCK!" His shouts continued as though he were merely playing cat and mouse with me. The first soldier found me and fired a shot, with my enhanced reflexes, though, my sword was drawn and the laser was deflected back at him, sending him sprawling. I backed away from the location and tried to extend my arm cannon, only to find that the crash had ripped half of it's components off of the armor. Another soldier ran up into melee range and found himself felled with a metallic boot to the face, a second one behind me received a pommel strike to his chin, knocking the both of them out cold. I quickly sheathed the sword and picked up one of these new laser rifles test firing a shot into the ground.

"COMMON SOLDIERS AREN'T GOOD ENOUGH TO BRING YOU DOWN?" The voice of Lieutenant Hard Rock shouted again. "EXCELLENT! I WAS HOPING FOR A FIGHT MYSELF!" And about that time a spray of laser fire peppered the ground at my feet causing me to jump backwards and look up. A soldier in slightly heavier armor than Glitch was riding a jet-pack through the factory's airspace, two automatic pistols for weapons. I took aim and returned fire hitting him with two of three shots fired in burst mode, it knocked him around a bit, but didn't even seem to hurt him outside of that.

"Damn..." I growled before ducking behind a stack of crates to evade his next volley.

"Using one of my own rifles against me?" He laughed. "Brilliantly resourceful, Ares. But it also tells me that you, yourself, are out of ammo." I dropped the rifle, finding a stack of pallets and grabbing one by the corner, throwing my weight to one side, I flung it off the stack and up at him through the air, followed by every other pallet on the stack. He dodged one, two, three, knocked two more out of the way and was finally knocked out of the sky by the sixth one. I quickly drew my blade and rushed at him, but was intercepted by a double soled kick to the face as he kipped back up to his feet and looked down at me.

"Ohhhh..." I groaned as I recovered from the stunning kick. Hard Rock lowered himself down, wiping some blood away from his lip.

"You're a tricky one, Ares. But you went too far when you started messing with fate." He stood up and began spraying my chest and abdomen with his automatic laser fire. His lasers weren't powerful enough to penetrate my armor, but I felt each shot as though it were a sledge hammer swung at full force. My cries of pain were apparently what it was he'd been looking for anyway. He kicked my sword away from my grip before reaching down and grabbing my helmet, forcefully ripping it off my head and revealing my stunned face, bruised, blood seeping from mouth and nose and staining my teeth.

"Ohhh..." I cried out again, my eyes still wide as my entire chest and stomach felt as though it had been minced into jelly. My breathing was heavy and irregular. "...help..." I gasped out.

"Ohhh, does it hurt too badly?" Hard rock dropped down. His face was tan and scruff lined his chin and neck. His hair was short, blond tipped, and spikey. His eyes, however, glowed red from whatever evil power was nested within him. "Want me to make it all stop?" He pressed the muzzle of his laser pistol to my forehead, the heat built up from the rapid fire was still hot enough to make my cry out again. His face looked really familiar to me though. I just couldn't place it. He mimicked my cries of pain as he continued to press the muzzle to my forehead.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" A very welcome and familiar voice interrupted him. It was Sailor Moon. He stopped and stood back up, turning around.

"Stop? Why would I do that? You want to provide me with a better challenge?" He asked walking towards her. I tried, through my hard and shallow breaths to inch myself backwards. Each move drove another shard of pain through my body but I had no way of knowing how long they could hold up against him. My sword was only about four feet away, if only I could reach it...

"In the name of the moon..." Sailor Moon started.

"THE MOON IS DEAD LADY!" Hard Rock shouted, interrupting her. "Or haven't you noticed? It's loyal armies get sent away when we should've stayed and defended our homes, but no, we're told to go off to some god forsaken WASTELAND of a planet and set up a regrouping point. We come back to find that we're too GOD DAMN LATE! DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT THE MOON!" He roared in his rage and began spraying the area with his laser pistols. I continued crawling, only two feet left to go. I stretched my arm as far as I could, having ti fight to keep from crying out in pain and drawing his attention back to my position, my fingers touched the pommel and slowly inched it back towards my grip.

"MARS SNIPER..." Rei's voice pierced the air and I saw him turn and take aim.

"No..." I felt a surge of power pass through my body and flipped back to my feet, with the sword in hand. "HEY! HARD ROCK!" I shouted in my own rage, pointing the sword blade at him. He turned and looked at me, his eyes widening.

"No way... how can you... stand...?" He gasped out.

"CATCH!" I yelled as the blade launched itself from the crosshilt rocketing forward and burying itself in his stomach about eight inches in, driving the guns from his hands. My energy reserves spent, the surge passed and gravity reclaimed my broken body, dragging me back down as it now did him.

"Ares?" Venus was the first to approach, with Ami close behind.

"Oh my god, he's in trouble." Ami noted wiping some blood away from my mouth. "Internal bleeding, broken bones galore... How in the name of all that's holy DID you stand back up?" She asked. I heard nothing, my eyes were open, but I wasn't home, my breaths were short and shallow. "We're in real trouble guys, he needs surgery and fast."

"...Ares... Pow... Power... Down..." I managed to breath out sending the armor away and revealing the giant series of black, blue, and yellow blotches that now covered my body. "Sai... Sailor... Sailor Moon..." I gasped, slowly pointing at Hard Rock. "He...heal..." was the last word I got out before I collapsed into unconsciousness.


	14. Engaging Fears

The steady rhythmic beeps of a hospital's external heart monitor are music to one's ears, especially when that one had previously thought themselves to be dead. My eyes opened slowly, and the world was blurred. Bad news for me, as I couldn't tell whether or not I'd just woken up from my previously blissful dream, or if I was still here, where my heart had always been. I felt the oxygen feeding tubes pressed against my nose, and I felt the disorientation and euphoria notoriously brought on by high end pain relieving medications. My eyes shifted about inside the sockets, but I could see no signs of anyone being around me, and I was far too weak to turn my head.

"Is... anyone here?" I spoke finally, my voice weak and soft to the point of being almost inaudible.

"Hmm?" I heard a voice stir from my right followed by a gasp. "Alex! You're awake!" It was Rei's voice, her sweet voice was probably even more beautiful than the sound of the beeps that had awakened me. I closed my eyes in thankfulness for a moment and allowed myself a smile. When they opened again, it was to find her slipping my glasses back over my eyes, allowing her face to come into view.

"I knew it..." I sighed. "I'm dead." I smiled at her, which made one of the welled up tears in her eyes finally fall.

"No, you're alive." She shook her head and placed a hand on my cheek.

"Can't be." I replied with my weak voice. "Angels don't tend the living." I smiled, which incited a laugh from her end.

"Come on, Alex, you're far too intelligent to revert to cheesy lines like those." She chuckled and wiped her eyes clear.

"Stop that." I said, noting the smeared mascara. "I can't move my hands right now... so you'll have to just pretend that it's me drying them for you." She nodded and leaned down slowly giving me a gentle hug before bursting into sobs.

"I thought you were dead..." She cried out, which brought tears to my eyes, which sucked even worse because now my eyes were stinging and I couldn't do anything except try to blink them out of the way. "And you can't die until I show you what I needed to." Her left hand pressed itself against my cheek and I felt something, a small portion of it was cold and hard. My eyes widened and I took a deep breath, driving pain through my chest. She sat up and held the hand up for me to see it. It was the engagement ring I'd had made for her. The ring was white-gold with a marquise cut Ruby in the center surrounded by diamond flecks. "I put my resignation from the shrine in yesterday." She nodded.

"You..." I took in another deep breath. "You didn't have to do that... You worked so hard at becoming a priestess."

"Things change, Alex. Even if you had died..." she paused to blot a few more tears away. "...how could I go back to that knowing everything you gave up for me? I wouldn't have been happy there." I tightened my jaw for a moment and nodded. "Besides, you're going to need someone to take care of you for a while, it seems." She noted looking around me. My left leg was in traction and it felt as though I had gauze covering the rest of my body.

"Hard Rock..." it suddenly occurred to me. "What happened..." She looked up at the bed to my left. I turned my head as best I could to look and saw him laying about five feet away, just as unconscious as I had been moments earlier. Suddenly, from the look of his profile, it dawned on me why he had looked so familiar. "Bruce...?" I asked.

"Bruce? You know him?" Rei asked. I turned back to look at her.

"I think he's one of my knights." I replied. She widened her eyes and looked over at him.

"So that's why you told her to heal him." She said. "When she did it, she used the crystal to heal him, and something popped out of his chest. It was some kind of gem stone, we'd never seen it before. Luna and Artemis were called and they're looking into it, but we haven't heard back from them."

"How long was I out?" I thought out loud.

"Almost six days." Rei replied. "The doctor said that you'd probably be here for another day or two after you woke up for observation, and then they'd send you home. I'll have to stay with you for a while to make sure your bandages stay clean and everything."

"Oh no, say it aint so..." I chuckled and winced.

"Yeah, I know, it's gonna be horrible having your every need catered to for a while isn't it? Or do you already have inventions that do that?" She asked.

"Just let me know when I can really wake up." I nodded and smiled before pressing my head back into the pillow and sighing. "So, what're you going to do now that you don't have the temple anymore?" I asked. She shrugged and sighed.

"Not sure, Makoto has offered to teach me how to cook. I might try the whole house wife bit since you make enough money to support a small country anyway." She chuckled.

"Never took you for the domesticated type." I replied with a smile. She turned and cocked an eyebrow at me.

"I can be domesticated if I want to be. Are you saying I'm a wild child?"

"It's like my dad used to tell me." I smiled and winced after another small laugh. "If the shoe fits..."

"Alex Simpleton, don't you finish that sentence." She pointed at me threateningly just as the door opened.

"Wow, Rei, you're just cold, pushing the guy around when he's in traction?" Makoto said as the rest of the crew walked in. "Looks like he's awake, hey stud, how's your... well... body feel?" She asked.

"Like a brick of lead." I replied. "But that's better than the soup it felt like before."

"I'll take your word for it, you have a lot of guts for a nerd." She smiled and I nodded. The procession continued on through the day as the girls each took their turns to congratulate me, not only on surviving, but on the engagement as well. After a few hours, the visitors left, all except Rei, who was allowed to stay seeing as she was the closest thing to family that I had here.

The next day, more of my strength returned and I was able to get out of bed with the help of a pair of crutches. My body still hurt, but it felt exponentially better than it had before. Bruce was still unconscious and according to the doctors, he would likely stay that way for a while, they said there was a lot of spread out damage to his body that had required even more surgery than mine had.

The day after, when it was time for me to check out, I still felt really sore, but my bandages were removed, except for those that wrapped my chest while my ribs healed, and I was allowed to go home. Rei drove me and by the time we'd arrived, I'd made plans about how best to reorganize the place to better accommodate the both of us. When we stepped up to the door, however, I saw the it was cracked open and held out my arm, motioning for Rei to stop.

"Wait here." I said, pushing the door open and peering inside. I didn't know what I was going to do about whatever invader might be there, I didn't have a weapon, but I knew I'd rather it be me to walk into whatever it was that awaited us than her.

"Alex, you're hurt, you should let me check it out." She said. I bit my lip for a moment and nodded.

"Fine, we go together." I replied she nodded in agreement and I lowered the crutches, propping one of them up against the side of the house and flipping the other around to use as a weapon. Rei went over to the other side of the door and nodded when she was ready. I took the crutch and used the padded arm rest to shove the door open before leaping inside. A dark, shadowy, humanoid figure loomed in front of me and I didn't hesitate, spinning on my cast once I first bashed it in the stomach with the rubber tip that was the walking point, followed by clobbering whoever it was alongside their head with the wooden shaft of the crutch sending them sprawling to the ground. Just then, the lights in the house all flipped on.

"SURPRISE!" Everyone yelled before stopping short. I looked down and cried out in horror, Mamoru was laying on the ground, knocked stone cold. Rei ran in behind me and took in a sharp breath.

"Oh my goodness, Mamoru, are you alright?" She asked dropping the crutch in her hand and running to help him up. He came to and looked around as though in a daze.

"Wow, I did not see that coming." He said sitting up and rubbing his head. Makoto laughed and shook her head.

"I told you guys it was a bad idea." She said. "Welcome home, Alex! And Rei!" She lifted a plastic cup filled with punch that was probably about the same shade as my face at that moment.

"I'm sorry, Mamoru." I sighed, smiling through the embarrassment of the situation. "I didn't hurt you too bad, did I?" I asked. He chuckled and continued rubbing the knot that was appearing on the side of his head.

"You cleaned my clock pretty good, but I think I'll manage." He chuckled in response. "Makoto was right though, you have a lot of guts busting into a house you thought was invaded as injured as you are." I hobbled over to the couch and plopped down, relaxing against the upholstered padding as I caught my breath. We were presented with a long chain of house warming gifts which lent the question.

"Okay, curiously, what brought this on all of a sudden?" I asked them after they'd all been presented. "I mean, not to say that I don't appreciate it, but..."

"Well, with Rei moving in and everything, it's only right. Besides you guys might as well be married now anyway, right?" I furrowed my brows and glanced over at Rei who blushed and looked away.

"Oh, she hadn't said anything yet, had she?" Minako asked, her eyes wide and hands clapped over her mouth. "Rei, we're sorry..."

"No, you guys, it's my fault, I should've..." She said quietly.

"Rei, what's going on?" I asked, looking at everyone then back at her, suddenly feeling VERY out of the loop. She looked up at me as though she were frightened.

"Well, since I left the temple, I can't stay there anymore, and..." I closed my eyes and nodded in understanding.

"Ohhhh, that's all?" I asked. "What's the big deal about that? Of course you can stay here." I shrugged. "What am I going to do with..." I realized something just then. The hallway and stairs that led up to the second story of my house were gone. Come to think of it, I hadn't even paid attention, the whole second story was gone. My eyes widened. "Oh... I see..." It suddenly dawned on me what the big deal was. My face turned bright red.

"I can stay with someone else if..." Rei started.

"No, no, it's fine." I said, shaking my head. "I just..." I shook my head again. "Not important. You're welcome to stay, we'll figure something out until the ceremony can be held." I waved my hand dismissively. "Besides, I know enough about your collective personalities to know that any two of you sharing a roof for any length of time would likely result in a homicide." They all laughed, Rei blushed and stood up, bowing slightly and walking off towards the kitchen, vanishing behind the wall where the fridge and sink were located.

"You do know that you'll have to share a bed, right? She has no furniture either." Usagi said. It was my turn to blush at that thought.

"I-I have enough money, I can set something up..." I closed my eyes and shook my head, fighting down the blush that threatened to stain my face again.

"But that's not what you're thinking, is it?" Minako grinned nudging me in the side with her elbow which drove a wince to my face and, thankfully, cancelled out any thoughts I'd been having previously.

"I'm thinking, in all honesty, that whatever it is she wants to happen is what will happen." I replied with a sigh.

"Good answer." Mamoru chuckled and handed me a cup. I took a drink before noticing that Rei still hadn't come back. Grabbing my crutches I moved to stand back up.

"Excuse me folks, one second." I hobbled my way into the kitchen where I found her sitting in front of the fridge, crying quietly, and talking to Usagi in a hushed tone. "Am I interrupting?" I asked. They both looked up at me before exchanging glances.

"No, it's fine." Rei said. "I'm just so... confused. This kind of thing isn't like me at all." I walked over and leaned back against the wall.

"Well, Rei, whatever it is that you want to happen will happen. Money isn't a problem, and neither is space. If you change your mind, you don't have to stay."

"No, Alex, it's not that. I just feel so... so weak when you're around. And now this... I have thoughts moving through my mind that would never have been there before and..." I slowly lowered myself down to a sitting position and sighed.

"It's just change, Rei." I said with a soft tone. "Remember when you told me that? Trust me, I know how scary it is. Imagine my fears, in a matter of months I've gone from the world's newest member, to the world's newest action star, to the world's first human pancake, and now I consider myself to be the world's most fortunate man alive. We'll get through this, you'll see. Using the same power that you use to get through everything else you've gotten through." She nodded and Usagi moved out of the way as Rei slid over and wrapped her arms around me, sobbing into my shoulder. Usagi smiled at me and gave me two thumbs up before backing away.

"I'll just leave you two alone for a bit and ward off the gossip slingers." She laughed banging her hand against the wall beside the fridge which cause a loud cry from the other girls who'd been eavesdropping from behind the breakfast bar.

"I'm just scared, Alex... You're all I have now, and I've never been this vulnerable before." She whispered into my shoulder. I tightened my jaw and fought back a string of tears myself.

"You're all I've had for a long time now, Rei. So... maybe we're all we really need." She tightened her embrace on me which drove a wince from me again.


	15. Magellan Rises

Another two weeks passed before we got a call telling us that Bruce had awakened. My leg was almost completely healed as were my ribs, thanks to a healthy dose of TLC coupled with home remedies and Shinto traditions, courtesy of Rei. Also, plans to renovate my house were now underway, complete with additional rooms on the first floor and an expansion to the basement, as well as a second sub-level for use as my laboratory. It was drawn up, planned out, and paid for, all that remained now was for construction to begin, which would happen in the next few weeks. I had rented a house for the two of us to move into while construction was underway only a few blocks away.

Rei's disposition about everything had improved greatly during the past two weeks. We found that we rather enjoyed our living situation despite the awkward moments that occurred from time to time. Despite her self degradation, Rei was an excellent cook and while I had no doubt that Makoto's guidance would only improve that quality further, she certainly didn't need the lessons. While I was in recovery, I began designing several new inventions for later construction. Did I need the money? No, not really. Didn't really even want it, to be honest. But when one has nothing but time on his hands and no better way to spend it, well, consider it a hobby. Plus, it gave me a constructive way to spend my energy outside of getting myself into trouble.

In any event, on this particular day we drove to the hospital to meet Bruce and see how he was feeling. We walked up to find a couple of the younger nurses standing outside of his door, blushing and looking into the room, chattering amongst themselves. I smiled and shook my head, Bruce always was a playboy. They left, giggling, when Rei and I showed up allowing us to open the door.

"Hey, welcome!" Bruce's voice greeted us, we both turned to see that he was up and out of bed. "They want to keep me here for observation, can you believe that? I feel right as rain." He was doing one handed pushups on the floor in front of his bed. "So, who do I have the pleasure of...?" He started as he stood up, pausing when he saw me. "You..."

"Nice to see you again, Bruce." I said. His eyes widened slowly and his face broke into a grin.

"Commander! Oh man this is awesome! I told them you'd never abandon us, but they didn't listen... Then Poseidon took off to find you and we got stuck listening to that new guy Suru..." I lifted a hand.

"Commander? Bruce, come on, seriously, you mean to tell me that you're still playing that game?" I asked. Now he looked confused.

"Game? What are you going on about, Sir? I'm not talking about any game, I'm talking about the war. Last I heard about it, The Moon Fell, then Suru ordered us all into stasis, said we were gonna find some way to do something about it. But now that you're here, Commander Ares, we can take it back!" He clapped me on the shoulder, then looked down at my shoulder. "You've lost some weight there, haven't you?" I looked thoughtful for a moment, my eyes slightly wider than usual.

"I may have lost more than just weight, Bruce. I have no clue what you're talking about, I remember nothing of the Moon Kingdom." I replied. His eyes widened.

"Are you sure, Commander? If you don't remember anything then why is it you're here with..." I lifted a hand and stopped him.

"Don't finish that sentence, we're all incognito here, for starters." He nodded and looked around.

"So you're counter attacking Earth too, are you?" He asked.

"No, Bruce, I'm defending it." His eyes widened again and he backed up a step. "The Princess is alive and here among us, as are some of the others. There are plans to rebuild, but they're far greater than you could believe and right now, I need help, are you in? Maybe we can help bring each other up to speed." Bruce looked thoughtful for a moment then nodded.

"You can count on me, Sir. Knight Magellan reporting for duty. I take that to mean that my charge is still present and accounted for as well?" I nodded.

"Absolutely. Thus far, the enemy seems to be focusing their attention on mine." Bruce nodded.

"You mean Suru, don't you?" He smiled vaguely as I nodded.

"Suru is an enemy to the Earth, and by affiliation, to The Princess. Be on your toes though, Glitch might still be out there somewhere..."

"Oh he is, Poseidon never gave up that easy..." My eyes widened.

"Glitch is Greg?" I asked. He nodded. "Wait, is everyone working for Suru?" I asked. He sighed and nodded again.

"It was a hard time after you left us, Sir. We know that your fight against The Mokai Witch was an important mission, but when you never came back... Well, Suru showed up, The Queen put him in charge, and everything just went to hell." I sat down on the couch along the wall and sighed.

"No wonder I've been having such a hard time..." I sighed. "So, where's Glitch... I mean... Poseidon, where is he now?" Bruce shrugged.

"Hell if I know, Sir..." I chuckled and shook my head.

"Call me, Alex." He nodded.

"Right, and I don't know, Alex. The details are kinda fuzzy, all I remember is Suru telling me top kill him for failing."

"Wait, I'm confused by all of this, so you're telling me that Alex was part of the Moon Kingdom?"

"Absolutely, Miss..." He started.

"Hino, Rei Hino." She said with a nod.

"Miss Hino, Commander Ares was an integral part of the kingdom's defense network, once upon a time anyway. The Queen got a report about some distant galaxy witch that was threatening to invade us with her magical minions, she couldn't send all of us and leave the kingdom defenseless, so she sent her best, Commander Ares... sadly... he never came back. We thought he was killed, but here you stand, eh, Alex?" He clapped me on the shoulder with a wide grin. "Shoulda known that no spell slinging witch could ever take you down."

"Right." I chuckled and looked confused. I didn't recall any of this. I was just Alex Simpleton, wasn't I? Assuredly he had me mistaken for someone else, but why would he lie? "Yeah, I'm not gonna lie, Bruce, I don't know what you're talking about."

"It's cool, Alex. You were reborn, right? It'll come back to you soon enough." He said. "You figured out the armor part didn't you?" I tried to focus on who it was that had come up with the names. It didn't make sense, none of it made any sense at all.

"Alright, fifteen years ago, my three friends and I developed a role playing game in another world. There was me, Greg, Bruce, and Tyrone..."

"That makes no sense, Alex, I've been in cryo-stasis on board Suru's ship for the last few thousand years." Bruce said. I looked at him and nodded.

"And up until about four or five months ago, I wasn't even a part of this world, Bruce, nothing about this is making sense." He nodded.

"So, we have a couple of mysteries to figure out then it seems. Tyrone is still working for Suru, but I'm sure once 'ol Papa Bear finds out that the real Commander is back, he'll be back in his old Greeny Meany mode faster than you can say thunderstruck." I chuckled and shook my head.

"I doubt it, Bruce. The Princess had to cure you of some sort of insanity. You were yelling at her, something about how the Moon Kingdom abandoned you." He blushed and looked down at his feet.

"That's one way of looking at it." He replied. "We were supposed to defend the home front, you know? I'm sure if you... or if whoever our Commander was back then had still been there, he would've convinced her to let us stay and fight, and we could've stopped that damned invasion." He shook his head. "But that doesn't matter anymore, that kingdom is gone and we've got another one that we have to help build and protect. I'd like to meet The Princess, and as long as she can promise me that she will let us defend it with our lives, then I will gladly put my old armor back on with pride. Or do you think I'll have the same upgrades as you had?" He asked.

"Mine is a machine." I replied sheepishly. "I don't have any armor to summon."

"Oh come on, now, of course you do. You may not be from this world but I can sense the Commander's presence from lightyears away and I'm telling you, you're the guy." He poked me in the chest. Rei wrapped her arms around me and planted a kiss on my cheek.

"See, Alex, it isn't just me." Bruce cocked an eyebrow and smiled, nodding in approval.

"Yup, definitely the Commander. Five months you say? Five months and you've already got a rock on her finger? Only my Commander could've pulled a stunt like that. Congratulations, by the by."

"Thanks." I smiled. "I just don't understand how I could possibly be attached to this world and not be born a part of it." I shrugged.

"Well, whatever the reason, you'll either figure it out, or it isn't really important." Bruce shrugged. About that time, the door opened and a nurse walked in.

"Mr. Callahan, you need to stay in bed. Come on now, or else I'll have to tell your friends to leave." I chuckled and turned, handing Bruce a business card.

"We were actually just getting ready to. Here, Bruce, give me a call when you're released and I'll pick you up." He nodded and smiled.

"Might be sooner than they'd like." He smiled before watching the nurse walk past him, admiring her physique with a raised eyebrow. "Then again..."

"Later, Bruce, rest well." I laughed as we turned to leave.

"Just be careful, Alex, Papa Bear and Hot Rod are still out there, and they're not going to give up easily." Bruce said as he climbed back into his bed and pulled the blankets over his legs. "Papa Bear is about the strongest man I know and Hot Rod can pilot anything." I nodded and tightened my jaw.

"I'll do my best." I replied. The response made him grin.

"Then they don't stand a chance, I'll call you when I'm..." He glanced at the nurse and winked. "...when I'm finished here." Rei and I left, closing the door behind us.

"He's not male chauvinist at all, is he?" She said, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

"Bruce is, well, he's just Bruce." I replied with a chuckle. Suddenly realizing that I shouldn't know anything about the man in there. He wasn't my friend, yet it still looked like him, it sounded like him, and it felt like him. None of this made any sense to me at all.


	16. Crash and Burn

"So, he's started to unravel the greater meaning to everything." Jackson sighed. "As bright as he is, he certainly is slow on the draw." The man in the wing-back chair sighed as well.

"Whether he learns that truth now or after the fact is irrelevant..."

"You still think he's the only one who can do this, don't you?" Jackson asked with a slight chuckle, folding his arms across his chest and allowing the fabric of his suit to stretch across his bulky, muscular build. "With all due respect, Sir..."

"What I think is equally irrelevant, Jackson, and the same applies to you. Whether he is the only one who can or not was debated on long before this day. I cannot say with any certainty that he is or is not." The man stood up and leaned forward, pressing down on his desk. "What I know is that he is the only one who will. It will not take long for him to realize exactly who he is fighting, and once he does, he will also realize why it is that he must win." The shadow covered man was just as big as Jackson, though, judging from the silhouette of a beard, likely a great deal older and wiser.

"And what about the balance? Have the elders passed down their decision yet?" The shadow covered man sighed and shook his head again, lowering his chin slightly before sitting back down in his chair and leaning back, interlacing his fingers in front of him.

"They have not. Though I do not believe that it matters. I have a feeling that their decision will arrive too late for them to change anything. This intervention will, beyond a doubt, be the smoothest one in my career."

"If you're not cautious, Sir, it may very well also be your last." Jackson noted.

"I'm aware, Jackson, and that fact is every bit as irrelevant as every other that you've presented today. If there is nothing else, you're dismissed."

"As you command, Sir." Jackson replied leaving the room and heading down a corridor. He was intercepted by another, much smaller guy in an identical suit.

"Agent Jackson, you have a communication waiting in your office from someone called Hades." Jackson ripped the shades off his face.

"Hades. Are you certain?" He asked, a tone of alarm and suspicion in his voice.

"Double checked the encryptions myself, Sir." The younger agent replied.

"Alright, tell no one of this, do you understand me?" Jackson said, pointing his folded shades at the smaller agent threateningly. The younger agent made no move to recoil but nodded sharply.

"Absolutely, Sir."

"Excellent." Jackson replaced his shades and continued his walk down the corridor. "Maybe now something will actually get done around here."

"So Alex." Bruce said as we were driving home from the hospital. "You and Miss Martian, huh? She's a keeper, I tell you." He smiled and chuckled.

"Yeah, she's great. She's got a mean streak in her, but she's everything I ever dreamed she would be." I almost heard the sound of the conversation turning south like the crack of a whip as Bruce's head turned towards me with a big, mischievous grin plastered to his face.

"You mean you two have...?" He started. My face instantly began burning a deep shade of crimson.

"Oh no! No, we haven't done that... yet. Saving it for the marriage and all, you know?" The nervous laugh erupted from my throat without my meaning it to. Bruce looked at me suspiciously.

"So, she's not quite everything you dreamed then, is she?" He asked.

"How do you mean? I love her as she is, Bruce." He nodded and waved his hand dismissively.

"Yeah, yeah, you love her, that much is obvious, but I'm kinda curious how long you'll hold out before you either take her the way a man should, or get carpal tunnel." He sighed leaning back into the seat cushion. "You can't tell me you don't want it, no man who has a girl that looks that banging doesn't want it."

"The thought's crossed my mind, but Rei's not like that." I said shaking my head. "She's far too spiritual and devout for that sort of thing."

"Didn't you say that she left the shrine for you? How devout can she be, Alex? Honestly. I don't mean to question your judgment here, you being my commanding officer and all, but let me ask you this: how many women have you loved in your life?" He asked.

"Just one." I replied. A hokey, cheesy answer, but as far as I could recall, an honest one.

"Compared to my numbers, you don't even show up on the spectrum, buddy. So learn from a pro, all women are like that, some are just in denial." He said pointedly. "You used to be the man of men back in the day. You had them pining for you at all levels and rumor had it that you had a thing for a few of the foreign princesses too." He grinned and waggled his eyebrows. "Of course, even back then, you wouldn't talk about it, so those rumors were never really confirmed."

"Okay, I don't mean to be rude here, Bruce, but do you have a point?" I asked. I really did not like discussing these kinds of topics. Not that I was afraid or anything like that. I had fantasies and wet dreams just like any other guy, but it was a social taboo and the topic just made me feel like a scumbag. Women were not some kind of toy to brag about to your friends, they were goddesses, all of them, each in their own right. Men were scum by comparison, and Bruce was in the process of reminding me why it was I had those opinions.

"Well, I was just thinking, maybe if you start acting like you did back then, you'll remember more." He shrugged. Dammit, he did actually have a point, and it was at least semi-valid. "Well?"

"If that kind of behavior is what it takes to remember, then I don't need those memories right now." I replied quietly. He nodded and looked impressed, but remained quiet the rest of the ride to the house that Rei and I now shared.

A few days later, Bruce was all settled in. We decided that, since this house was only temporary until ours was finished, Bruce should stay with us for now and then when the house was done, he'd stay here and have the place to himself. I was normally on the construction site, supervising and making sure that the plans were being followed to the letter, and also throwing in a helping hand with the labor and construction effort. It kept me away from the house for eight to ten hours a day. It was during that time that the worst event of my life began conspiring to destroy me.

"Hey, Rei, you're looking bright and chipper as ever." Bruce smiled as Rei stepped through the house having just awakened from the night's sleep. I'd left an hour or two previously to go supervise again.

"Oh, good morning, Bruce." She bowed her head lightly before getting herself a glass of water.

"Can I ask you something kinda personal?" Bruce finally asked, looking as though he were confused about something. "I'm concerned for my buddy Alex, and I was wondering if you could help clear something up for me." Rei now looked concerned herself and moved over towards the table, taking a seat across from Bruce.

"Is he in trouble or something?" She asked. Bruce looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Actually, I was hoping you could tell me." He replied. "I'm curious, I've seen the way you two look at each other, the snuggling during movies, the hugs and kisses, the sparkles in your eyes when you lock gazes, you two look absolutely and perfectly happy together." Rei smiled and blushed, lowering her gaze to the table's surface.

"Well, um, thank you..."

"I'm not finished." Bruce held up a finger, before stroking his chin thoughtfully. "What intrigues me is that as much as you two appear to love each other, I've seen the look in your eyes when Alex isn't here, and you look thoroughly depressed. It makes me wonder whether or not this whole image that you present to him is a front..."

"How dare you..." Rei's eyes narrowed and flickered with dangerous amounts of anger. "I love him, I gave up everything I had for him, how dare you question my motives like that!"

"Oh, I dare." Bruce replied, a smug grin crossing his face. "I thought something might be up when he told me that you two hadn't consummated the relationship yet, despite his inner desires, but then you're solemn ghost walk just confirmed it. You're only here because you feel that you have to be."

"You don't know what you're talking about..."

"You may have given up a temple and a job, but he gave up a whole planet..."

"Alex would never say anything like that..."

"And then you don't even have the common courtesy to be honest about it..."

"SHUT UP!" Rei stood up and threw the remnants of her water into his face. "I don't know who the hell you think you are, but you know NOTHING about me. Alex has told me time and again that this relationship runs on my schedule, which tells me that he doesn't mind waiting, a trait that I happen to find very sexy in a man. Nothing like you and your presumptuous accusations about my motives..."

"Oh please, are you really that naïve?" Bruce asked. "It's called chivalry, Rei, people think it's a code that tells men to kneel before women and all that jazz, it's a code that tells men what women want and how to get what they want as well. By giving you control of the relationship his intention was to let you make the first move, he didn't intend for it to drag on for this long."

"You're wrong. Alex wouldn't think like that..."

"Really now? Has he told you about his bathroom collection?" Bruce asked. "Next time you have a free moment..." He sighed, standing up and pulling his jacket on. "...you might just want to check the toilet tank and see how innocent and sweet your man really is." He chuckled. "I swear, he has far more patience than I ever would." He shook his head and chuckled as he stepped out of the front door, going on a walk.

When he returned, Rei was nowhere to be found. The lid was missing from the toilet tank and the 'comics' that I had kept there were missing. His eyes widened and he darted around the house, Rei wasn't the only thing missing, most of her clothes were gone too. In their place was a letter addressed to me, it would only be another thirty minutes until I found it, one hour until I began praying to any power that would listen that I could just die right there on the spot.


	17. When Flames Cry

"_Alex,_

_I wasn't aware that you were such a needy individual. You have no_

_idea how sad it makes me to say that I cannot fulfill those needs. I_

_was rather under the impression that you were different from the _

_other men I've met over the years, but now it's plain to see that you_

_are only different on the outside. At the core of your being, you're_

_no different at all. I'll be staying at Usagi's, and there is no need for_

_you to contact me there. You fooled me, you made me give up the most_

_important things in my life, you made me cook and clean for you, you_

_made me love you, and now you've made me feel more pain than I_

_can even begin to describe. I only hope that I can return one tenth of_

_that favor._

_Goodbye,_

_Rei"_

I had it memorized. Every last character, every last word. I hadn't left my bed since I found it, except to use the bathroom. Bruce had to bring me any food he thought I should eat, and even then I seldom ate it. I just didn't understand what had happened. I felt as though I were a hollow creature, skin, bones, and muscle, but nothing else beneath it. It had been four or five days and Bruce said that the contractor had stopped working on the house because he needed my approval for some things, I didn't care any more. That house was meant to be shared with her, and if she wasn't there, what was the point in continuing?

I couldn't have even told you how long it was that I sat in that bedroom. Sleep came in fifteen minute sessions, each session bringing with it nightmares that I couldn't remember upon my awakening. I didn't know how many days it was before Bruce walked in with the phone. I vaguely remember looking up at him with a blank expression.

"It's Usagi, Alex, she's worried." I lifted the phone to my ear.

"Hello." My voice was devoid of tone and life.

"Alex? You sound horrible." She said, sympathy drenching her voice. "I was concerned, because I saw that construction on your house had..."

"Our house." I corrected. "Not mine."

"Huh? Alex, she... she isn't coming back."

"She has to." I replied. "The story doesn't end like this." I shook my head, I could feel my mind slipping away slowly. "See, this is just the conflict portion of the story where the hero has to deal with some kind of traumatic event in order to strengthen his spirit..."

"I see, and how's it working...?" Usagi asked.

"Horribly, actually. See, I don't even know what I did." I replied. My eyes stared straight ahead, my face bore no expression, one hand held the phone to my ear, and the other still clutched the letter. Everything felt so surreal, as though I were trapped in some sort of dream.

"You... what? You don't know?" She asked. "Alex, the pictures in that manga..."

"Manga?" I asked, my brows furrowing. "My manga was all boxed up in the attic, I collect it, I haven't even touched the stuff since she moved in! She left me because of my boxed doujin's?" I asked, it didn't sound right at all. My doujin's were adult oriented manga, most of it, admittedly, centered around Sailor Mars. I had tricked my dad into buying it for me because he didn't know what it was, he thought they were just normal foreign comic books.

"She found them in the toilet tank, Alex." Usagi said. "If you didn't put them there..."

"Bruce..." I growled into the phone before hanging up and standing, my bloodshot eyes were now filled with rage as Bruce walked back up.

"Hey, Alex, what...?" He stopped when he saw me. "Alex, you okay?"

"You son of a bitch, why did you do it?" I growled at him. His eyes widened and he lowered his gaze to the floor.

"I was trying to help, I thought that, if she thought that you wanted it..."

"I FUCKING TOLD YOU!" I roared before reaching for my transmutation switch on my belt buckle. "You have five fucking seconds to run. Five..."

"Alex, you don't want to do that..." Bruce said, beginning to back away.

"FOUR!" I roared at him again, sending him flying down the stairs. He had his own armor as well by now, but I didn't care. He had brought about the end of the single most important thing in my entire life, the only thing he seemed to care about was himself, so it was only fair that I returned the favor. Not that I'm justifying what I did on that day, no, I was downright out of control.

"Alex, calm down!" Haruka's voice yelled up the stairs. I felt something stirring within my body, it was a rage the likes of which I had never known before, and with it came a power that I had never known. I felt my body temperature rising rapidly but it wasn't even the least bit uncomfortable. Haruka and Michiru dashed over to the door and stared at me with wide eyes. "What the hell?"

"That power!" Michiru shook her head. "He can't control it."

"GRAAAAHHHHH!" I roared out, my voice thundering so loudly that the windows in the house shattered from the sheer volume and pitch. Flames exploded from my body igniting the room to a blaze.

"Alex! Alex you have to stop!" Haruka yelled.

"Make me..." I lowered my gaze, my actions were no longer my own, my body was being controlled by something else. Something far more powerful, something far angrier. Haruka's eyes narrowed and she leapt at me. With a swift move I spun around, swinging an arm out and deflecting her intended strike before returning fire with a solid punch to her stomach that launched her backwards through the wall.

"Alex, you're going to destroy yourself if you don't stop this now!" Michiru yelled. "This isn't going to bring her back!" I stopped and turned my gaze to her. Haruka stood back up, her shirt was partially burned away and the skin of her stomach was bright red from a contact burn. She didn't look happy. I turned back to her and it became apparent to the both of them that tears, in the form of red hot napalm, were running down my face in torrents.

"NOTHING will bring her back." I growled at Michiru.

"The truth can." She replied, holding out her hands defensively. "But this... this is only going to chase her further away, Alex, you have got to control yourself."

"I AM!" I roared. "I'VE DONE NOTHING BUT!" My roars boomed through the house.

"If you love her, you'll stop this nonsense now and give things a chance." Haruka growled. I felt rage piling up inside again, but then a growl of defeat sounded off and I felt control of my body begin returning to me, my energies were waning, and fast.

"I... What is this?" My voice came back and I was finally able to control myself again. The flames on my body and in the room died, leaving only the hole in the wall that Haruka had made as damage. The tears on my face were no longer red hot napalm, though they were still coming pretty regular. I felt drained, completely exhausted. "My god..." I looked down to the letter in my hand, but all that was left was ashes. "I am a monster..." The exhaustion set in further and further as the seconds ticked by. "I..." The room started spinning and I staggered a step forward, reaching out towards Michiru and Haruka before collapsing forward to the ground in such a deep sleep that even the impact didn't wake me.


	18. My Own Worst Enemy

"Boy howdy did you guys pick the WRONG day to pick a fight." I growled from beneath my helmet as I stormed towards the enemy soldiers. They had launched an attack against one of the federal buildings in downtown Tokyo. Naturally, the security forces and minor military units on site hadn't been sufficient to repel them, so Magellan and I decided that we really had no choice but to intercede. My personal issues with Bruce had to be put aside for the time being.

"Thermal scans indicate a strong presence on the top floor including a signal that looks like it might very well be Papa Bear. I'd watch out, Ares, Hot Rod could be anywhere in the building."

"Copy that, engaging." I replied before rushing forward. "Assault codes alpha, gamma, juliet, tango, six, six, niner." I spoke, my suit followed the commands perfectly, dashing towards the first one, a sliding sweep took him to the ground before I flipped up, kicking the laser cannon out of the hands of the second soldier and delivering an upper cut that launched him backwards into two more. A brandished sword-blade deflected the volley of laser blasts that came at me next and several slash wounds felled the soldiers who fired them. "First floor secure." I said quietly before stepping into the elevator and activating the afterburn cannon. The elevator stopped and the door opened at each floor on the way up and one discharge sent several soldiers to the ground and a few more out through windows. It was an efficient system to take care of predictable soldiers. They knew I was in the elevator, and rather than trying to draw me out, they tried to rush me, making it easy to simply blast them and continue onwards. Finally the top floor was reached and the door opened to reveal the Senshi locked in battle with two enemy soldiers. "What the...? Magellan! What are they doing here?"

"If I had to guess, Sir? I'd say fighting." He replied.

"Smart ass, I mean, why wasn't I informed?"

"Um, oversight?" He asked. I growled and took a moment to take stock of the battle. One of the soldiers was a truly monstrous figure, standing in excess of eight feet tall with biceps more than three feet in circumference, and likely weighing in excess of six hundred pounds. The other was far smaller and more agile, his armor was streamlined and made good use of boosters and rocket bursts to keep him nimble, light, and mobile. Alright, Alex, time to pick your poison. About that time, the big one landed a sound blow on Mars sending her flying back towards me. I jumped off to the side and caught her before she would've slammed into the marble wall behind me, before putting her down. She stopped when she saw me and looked somewhat sheepish.

"Thanks, Ares."

"Don't mention it, drama later, battle now." I growled before jumping and planting my boots against the wall and then firing the rockets as I pushed off, aiming straight at the enormous barbarian. My shoulder slammed into him with the kinetic force of a speeding truck, ripping even his massive frame off his feet and sending both of us out of the building on a steady downward arc for a nearby parking garage. "Magellan! Bag that little guy! I've got this one!" I roared.

"WHO HAS WHO, ARES?" He laughed grabbing me by the sides and spinning around, lifting up on my body and removing my grip before throwing me in front of him head first, I started to fire my boots but he grabbed my right leg and spun around in mid air launching me like a catapult towards the cement wall of the parking garage.

"Oh boy..." I curled into a ball, trying to position my armor plates so that they would take the brunt of the blow. Contact was made and the wall shattered, as did the front plates of my armor sending me scattering across the floor and coming to a stop just in front of a Ford F-150. I quickly stood up and took aim with the cannon firing once, twice, and a third time. The brute was staggered by each shot but still continued running towards me. I jumped out of the way, barely avoiding his punch. It rammed, instead, through the grill and radiator of the truck behind me. "Power with no accuracy is a tragic waste." I taunted him as I rolled away. He roared and pulled his fist out of the truck before grabbing iot by the chassis and lifting the whole thing off the ground. "Oh you have GOT to be kidding me!"

"DIE ARES!" He roared, drawing it back to throw it. I quickly took aim and fired at the truck's gas tank, misjudging my own distance. The resulting explosion launched me backwards, out towards the street, during the mid-day rush hour.

PING! PING PING! PING CRASH! Was the chorus of sounds heard as my armored body bounced off of one car and flipped into the air, bouncing off another one twice, then finally going through the windshield of the third one. Fortunately my helmet stayed on and though I was in serious pain, my armor's systems were still semi-functional. One of my boot thrusters still worked, enough to lift me out of there, and my optic camouflage, though damaged, would cloak my appearance enough that pictures taken wouldn't turn out. I quickly activated both and took off back towards the building again.

"Ares, you okay man?" Magellan asked.

"Did I get him?" I asked.

"I'd hope so, you brought down the house." He laughed. I turned and saw that the explosion had triggered a series of explosions that had leveled the entire parking garage, burying the monster within it. "Hot Rod bugged out, we're waiting for you."

"I'm crippled, but I'm on my way." I replied, wincing. When I finally reached the top floor of the building they gasped when my cloaking field dropped.

"Oh my god, Ares, you're bleeding!" Mars ran over as I dropped to my knee. I looked down and spotted what she was talking about, a piece of shrapnel from the truck had embedded itself in my armor, piercing through and stabbing into my stomach. No wonder I was in so much pain.

"Figures..." I gasped out. "One of these days... I'll figure this super hero stuff out." I chuckled, reaching down and grabbing the shrapnel. "Can't go back to the hospital right now..." I growled as I torqued on the piece. There would be too many questions asked about my 'accidents' and the excuse of being an inventor would only work for so long. The piece was removed with a cry of pain before I collapsed forward to my hands and knees, breathing heavily. The pain subsided quickly and slowly, I stood back up. "On the bright side, I'm getting acclimated to pain, it seems."

"Nicely done, Ares." Magellan nodded. I said nothing to him in response, allowing my eyes to focus on Mars for a moment before tightening my jaw.

"Right, well, looks like we're all done here, and I need to go make some repairs and whatnot, so..."

"So that's it?" Uranus chuckled. "You put me through a wall and you're not even going to say anything?" I stopped for a moment, turning to look at her slightly from over my shoulder.

"No, it's not my place. I wasn't wrong." I replied. The answer surprised even me. I could've easily dropped to a knee and pleaded for Rei to come back to me, but what would it have accomplished? Yeah it would've fixed things on the surface, but I'd come to the conclusion that if she could be convinced to leave me so easily, then there was something else she was dealing with that was far bigger.

"You weren't wrong?" Mars asked. "Are you serious? What about those things ISN'T wrong?"

"Believe what you will, Mars, I'm leaving now... you know where to find me if you need anything." I said quietly.

"Don't count on it, buddy." She retorted, making me hesitate before cloaking and taking off. It was hard to make it home with tears running down my face, but the blackened visor of my helmet masked them well enough, I suppose. She honestly thought that I was that superficial? Superficial love did not warrant sacrificing one's life and health on a regular basis. Lust did not drive one to throw away his entire existence to pursue it. Her logic made no sense to me. What Bruce did was wrong, but it made me think, if she could be fooled so easily... how would we ever get over issues like this when they inevitably arose in the future.

I made it home about an hour later and Usagi's car was parked outside. I landed in the backyard and transformed behind the privacy fence before starting towards the house, taking stock of my stomach wound. It was deep, and it would scar, but it wouldn't be fatal.

"Took you long enough." Usagi said as I walked in, removing my shirt and moving to the cabinets to grab the disinfectant. "Oh wow, that's a good one."

"Stop, Alex." Rei's voice alerted me to it's presence as she stepped forward and took the chemical from me pouring it down my stomach in large amounts, driving a cry of pain out of me as she grinned heinously. "That, was for not explaining what really happened." She smiled before turning me around and grabbing the ace bandage that would've been my next target. "I'm sorry... you were right... I should've asked you about it."

"But that wasn't the only thing bothering you, was it?" I asked through clenched teeth, the astringent on my wound was still burning pretty bad. She finished wrapping the wound and turned me back around again. Her eyes were tears stained and red.

"No, it wasn't. It isn't." she said. "I've been in a temple since I was a little girl, I swore off men more than ten years ago, Alex, so many changes have happened so fast..." I started to open my mouth and she sighed, closing her eyes. "...I know you told me it was coming and I didn't believe you. I knew they were coming, I just didn't know how hard they were gonna hit me."

"Hey, at least you actively chose yours." I chuckled, she looked up and smiled, nodding.

"Yeah, I did. I think I was trying to blame you for it, anything to give me some justification for it."

"If you need justificiation, Rei, then maybe we shouldn't... you know..." I swallowed for a moment and closed my eyes. "... maybe we shouldn't be together..."

"What?" She asked. I tightened my grip on the counter top behind me as I leaned back against it. "Alex, why...?"

"I want you to love me, Rei. In the truest sense of the word. No rhyme, no reason, just love." I said. "It wouldn't matter to me if you had been the one beating me to death out there, it wouldn't change a thing about how I feel about you. I don't need a reason, I don't want a reason, I don't care why. I know how I feel. A psychosis, A near death, Crossing Dimensions, and countless wounds haven't changed it, hell, you leaving me for something I didn't even do can't change it. It's just here and it's not going anywhere. I'm not saying that this will make me happy, but it won't hurt me anywhere near as badly as you staying with me out of obligation or some sense of 'doing what's right'." I said. She backed up slightly and lowered her gaze, tears welling up in her eyes again. "If you stay with me, make it because you want to, not because you feel that you're supposed to..." I was cut off when she rushed forward and tackled me against the counter with a hard, passionate kiss that made my brain feel as though it had exploded within my skull. The passion in that kiss had not been in any other exchange we'd had up to that point.

After a moment, when she pulled away, I felt extremely light headed as I staggered over to find a chair at the table. So, this was the effects of reverse psychology? Heh, who knew it actually worked. Rei followed me over to the chair and knelt in front of me, bowing her head slightly.

"I do love you, Alex. I don't need a reason for that, I just... I just want to know how it is that you..."

"You want to know why you love him?" A voice I was unfamiliar with asked, causing me to look around, though I didn't see anyone. "We can answer that one." My eyes went down and spotted the two cats that had come in through the back door.

"Luna? Artemis?" I asked. "Where have you two been?"

"Vacation." Luna replied. "You try keeping tabs on her for ten years and see how badly you need one." She said nodding her head towards Usagi.

"Yes, but more to the point, we were extremely confused when Usagi mentioned that Ares had shown up here on Earth. Our last reports indicated that Ares hadn't actually died during the Silver Millennium." Artemis replied. We all turned to look at them.

"Wait, so you're saying that I've been alive the whole time?" I asked. Luna shook her head.

"We thought that might be the case at first, but no. It seems that somehow, this Jackson person found an alternate reality with a parallel version of you. We believe that we've figured out the answer to a lot of things concerning this matter."

"Wait, if I'm a parallel, then that means the Ares that everyone remembers..."

"Is now known as Hakai Suru and is on his way here, as we speak, to destroy the Earth." Artemis replied frankly. Everyone's eyes widened simultaneously.


	19. A History Lesson and A Thunder God

"A long time ago, back before even the attack on The Moon Kingdom, the Moon King, Queen Selenity's late husband, had a team of body guards as well. The four strongest men in the Solar System, or so it was rumored anyway. They operated almost exactly like the Senshi did for the Queen and Princess, except that, for the most part, they focused more on martial strength and prowess and less on the use of their inherent powers. They were Ares, Poseidon, Magellan, and Thor. Traditionally speaking, Poseidon had commanded the team, and that was no exception during the days of King Tsukuyomi. However, Poseidon led the team to a failure that resulted in the King's untimely death. With no Prince to guard and the promise of Mamoru taking his place and bringing his own body guards, The Shitennou, the unit was disbanded. The children of the four men came about the same time as you girls did and joined the standard military. Owing to their powers and natural martial prowess passed down from their parents, they excelled and became the best soldiers in the army." Artemis began telling the story and faint visions of the scenes he described floated through my mind as he spoke.

"I... I can almost remember it... but I wasn't even there..." I said, rubbing my head and closing my eyes.

"All parallel existences are intertwined, Alex. Your parallel was there, so you will naturally pick up on the memories now that you're in the same reality." Luna explained.

"Right, but this next part is what you guys really need to hear, so pay attention." Artemis said before continuing his story. "See, the four of them easily beat out the competition for ranks and titles, except when it came to each other. Some say the Queen was wrong for doing it, that she held a grudge against Poseidon for his father's failure, but I think he was just outclassed in that generation. Ares was the best of them and was named Commander of the new team. This team assembly allowed them to spend time around the girls, and some of them built relationships, some more serious than others." He glanced at Rei and I pointedly. "Well, The Queen got a distress call from an ally, said that they were over run by a witch and her minions. She turned to the boys for a military solution and off they went, they never came back either, but here's where it gets really strange.

"The allies had mentioned something called a Destratin Ruby." Artemis said with furrowed brows. "Allegedly, the ruby comes from a planet sized parent ruby that floats out there in space somewhere, but it was always thought to have been a myth. The legends said that anyone who touched the ruby would amplify their powers a hundred fold, but they would sacrifice their very souls to the ruby in exchange for that power. They would become driven purely by desire and lust for power. Ares confirmed in his last report, made after killing the witch, that the ruby did exist and set out to find it and destroy it." I nodded and sighed.

"Seems more like it destroyed him." I replied. Artemis and Luna both nodded. "Well, that explains why he's so hard up to get his hands on Rei." I chuckled with a sigh. She just blushed and looked away.

"He's taken the name Hakai Suru and is convinced that it is the Earth's fault that he had no kingdom to return home to. When he found out that you girls were here, he decided to focus his lighter desires on Rei and his darker ones on you, Usagi." Luna said. "That is, until Alex began ruining things. Now it seems he's turned his destructive gaze onto you. You took up his former title, maybe he feels the only way to get it back is to destroy you and take it."

"Perfect." I sighed and shook my head. "Mom always used to tell me, she'd say 'Alex, you are your own worst enemy'." I said with a chuckle. "Never in a million years did I think I'd ever have to take that at face value."

"This is bad, Luna." Usagi said. "What will he do when he gets here?" She asked.

"Most likely he'll show a strong display of force and power. Ares was never one for subtlety. It wouldn't surprise me at all for him to land an entire battalion of troops in the middle of the downtown area and start destroying everything in his path." Artemis replied.

"Okay, so, we'll keep him from landing then." I replied simply. Everyone looked at me as though I were crazy. "Hey, if I have the tech to build a space aged suit of mechanized battle armor, I can certainly build one capable of space travel, how much time do we have?"

"Maybe three months." Luna said. I did some quick mental math.

"Plenty of time, I can build one for each of us and still have plenty of time to spare, we'll meet him outside of orbit on his own ship, finish the fight there and..."

"Not alone you won't." A deep voice thundered from behind me. I turned and saw Papa Bear standing on the other side of the glass door, without his helmet and armor. It was Tyrone.

"And Thor has joined the party!" Bruce walked over, having kept his mouth shut the whole time.

"That bastard Hakai stuck this damn thing in my chest." He dropped a plastic baggy with a red gem shard inside of it on the table. "I think it's how he controls his thugs, and us. I tried to convince Hot Rod, but he wouldn't listen, said he'd rather die than turn traitor, so I obliged him." He nodded. "He wasn't one of us anyway."

"Then that means that Glitch is...?" Bruce and Tyrone exchanged glances and tightened their jaws. I took the hint and dropped the subject. Glitch would show up soon enough and we'd heal him, bringing Greg back into the fray as well, I just knew it. The team would be back together again, and then we'd go kick Suru around like the little girl he was.

"Welcome back, Tyrone." Artemis acknowledged him with a bow.

"And sorry about the whole explosion thing earlier..." I said. He chuckled and shook his head.

"Don't worry about it, Sir. It's just good to have you back." He grinned and nodded. "Looking forward to that Space Mission too, I have a few choice words I'd like to say to Mr. Suru when next we meet." Tyrone pounded his left fist into his right hand with what I imagined was enough forced to crush a small boulder. I remembered that dream from all those weeks ago, seeing Magellan and Thor, both laying dead in their own shattered armor.

"We all do, Tyrone." I nodded. "Good to have you on our side now." I smiled vaguely and then shifted my gaze back out through the sliding glass doors and into the sky. The space plan was a good idea, but how accurate had that dream been? Thus far it had been relatively close at least. I sighed and steeled myself for the days to come. Accurate or not, we would find out soon enough.


	20. And Now The Bad News

"How're the upgrades coming?" Rei asked the next morning. I'd been up for hours already, working on my computer in the garage processing modifications to the armor suits. The nano-vat had been extremely useful for creating another nano-vat, which had taken two days, both of them together processed a third one in one day. I now had ten nano-vats lining the garage walls all of them processing their own suit of armor. Five of them were obviously male, though the fifth suit was far more majestic looking than the previous four. The other five vats were processing female armor suits, you can guess the purpose behind them.

Rei drew my attention away from the lap top and to her. Wearing her typical casual garb she handed my a mug filled with sweetened tea and smiled. Rei was good at a lot of things, but personally, I think tea is her strongest suit. Being from a fairly wealthy family back in the other world, I'd tasted a lot of various teas, coffees, and other drinks both foreign and domestic, but her tea was still the best tasting fluid I'd ever ingested.

"Not bad, I'll be ready for the trial run tomorrow." I nodded. She stopped and held up her hands.

"Wait. You're going to test these things personally? You can't have Bruce or Tyrone do it?" I shook my head and closed my eyes.

"One thing I promised myself when I started inventing things is that I would never ask anyone else to do anything that I am physically capable of doing myself. There's a lot more to be tested than just whether or not the suit works in zero gravity, there's also maneuverability tests, reactions from the body, not to mention that it's my responsibility to see this mission through. Rei stepped forward and placed one hand on either side of my face.

"I understand, Alex. I almost lost you once because of my stupid mistake. I do not want to lose you over your stupid mistake, understand?" She asked. "I'll go tell Bruce that he can make amends by putting HIS life on the line." She smiled. I started to protest again, but she silenced me with a kiss and then with a stern look. I was expected to defeat the most powerful warlord seen since Galaxia herself, and I couldn't even stare down my own girlfriend... things were not looking good.

The next day, Bruce stepped out into the backyard wearing his modified suit. He looked it over and tested the movement.

"It's a lot bulkier than the old one, I'm not sure I like that." He said as I walked around with my lap top cradled in one arm, taking final measurements and double checking to make certain the systems were all running within nominal ranges.

"The extra gear is only for atmospheric exit, Magellan, it'll be jettisoned as soon as we're clear of the atmopshere, but not for today's mission. I need this gear to come back home so I can run the post tests on it." I explained.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tech stuff, got it." He nodded.

"Yes, tech stuff, now here's the rules. Violate any one of them and I'll shut down your armor remotely, understand?" I asked.

"Yes, sir." He stood at attention.

"Good. You're to use the photon propulsion units until you reach fifteen thousand feet. Your HUD should display your altitude and speed. Also, I've added a ten mile LADAR system to your torso for this mission. It's a light-based version of traditional RADAR and will tell you if we have any inbound interference. If you are engaged by enemy craft, abort, go invisible and return to base. Thor and I will be on standby to back you up as well as any of the girls who'd like to get a feel for your armor prior to D-day." I stopped, finished running the numbers, and smiling with a nod when they all came back green. I closed the laptop and handed it to Tyrone who took and stepped back. "If I see a red lined system at any point, I'm calling abort. If I have a bad feeling, I'm calling abort. If the groundhog sees his shadow, I'm calling abort. This tech is all experimental in my eyes so every precautionary measure is being taken."

"Understood, sir." Bruce nodded from within the suit again. "Just so I know, sir, you're not still mad at me, are you?" He asked. I cocked an eyebrow.

"Yes, a little, but you're a necessary component of this team, and I'm not a murderer, so rest assured, I'll be doing everything in my power to not see you end up as road kill."

"Appreciated, sir." He replied. Tyrone chuckled and shook his head.

"Alright, weather scans are clear, traffic scans are clear, you're clear for launch whenever you're ready." Another nod and a few breaths were taken before I took the laptop back from Tyrone and sat it down on the table, firing up the diagnostics programs. "Vital signs are good, internal power management systems are in the green..."

"And here we go." Magellan cloaked his armor and took off. There was a slight fluctuation in the power grid before it went back to the normal levels again. Rei sat beside me on one side, Ami on the other with a lap top of her own, she was helping me monitor the medical side of things.

"There was a slight fluctuation in cranial activity immediately following the launch." She said. I nodded.

"I saw it in the power grid as well, should be fine, but we'll keep an eye on it." I replied. "Altitude is two thousand feet and climbing."

"Heart rate and breathing are slightly elevated, adrenal glands have kicked in." Ami noted. I picked up a pen and began flipping it from one finger to the next and then back again as I watched the monitor.

"Sky traffic still clear, there's an intermittent contact about fifty miles to the south. Magellan, do you copy?" I asked into my headset.

"Loud and clear, boss man, what's up?"

"Verify intermittent contact, south by south east, range is forty-nine point eight miles." I said.

"Target verified, stationary, small mass, metallic, likely an enemy contact but it isn't moving to engage, over." Magellan replied. "Orders, sir?"

"Continue as planned, let me know if the situation changes." I responded. Hot Rod likely had his observation units watching our every move. I didn't care, when the time came, it didn't matter how much advance notice that Suru had. From what I gathered, he was a soldier. I, however, was a technical wizkid with a virtual Ph. D. in strategy gaming. I had no doubt that I could plan circles around him. He would know that I planned to engage him in space. However, what he would not know is that eight of us, possibly nine, would be engaging him in space instead of the anticipated three.

"Altitude reaching eleven thousand feet, preparing for ion thruster deployment." Magellan stated.

"Copy that, Magellan, all systems are nominal, we're gonna do this in two steps. I'll need one short burst for five seconds followed by ten seconds of Photon thrust. If everything checks out on medical and logistics, we'll then proceed to zero gravity phase, over." I answered, leaning back in my chair and taking another sip from my tea cup. His altitude was now at thirteen thousand feet and climbing.

"Ion systems are powered up..." He said. I noted the elevation in the power levels, though it was only by two bars, I leaned forward, my eyes watching the screen closely. "Elevation at fourteen five, checking for confirmation."

"Engage at fifteen, Magellan." I replied.

"Copy that, Elevation fifteen, Ion Thrust engaged! WHOAAAAA!" He cried out as his power levels spiked into the yellow and his elevation began skyrocketing. Everyone else gasped as they watched the bright lights appear above our heads and shoot straight up. "YEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAA!" Bruce called out with a laugh. "Terminating Ions in three, two, one... terminated." I watched as the power levels returned to normal levels.

"Logistics is green." I said, glancing over at Ami. She nodded.

"He's really hyper and full of adrenaline, but otherwise Medical is green." She answered. I nodded and turned back to my screen.

"Magellan, verify... wait..." I switched the view to sky traffic and noted that all contacts for fifty miles were now missing. "Thor, power up and fly recon under cloak, stay under five thousand." I said. He nodded and activated his armor, a massive suit of two tone green armor styled in a more barbaric fashion before cloaking and taking to the skies. "Magellan, abort mission, return home." I said closing the lap top and taking it back inside before flipping on the television to the local news channel.

"This just in, an airliner in bound from China has lost power and is slowly gliding to a crash landing. Initial reports cannot conclude why this loss of power occurred, but there is speculation that human error is to blame..." I closed my eyes and slammed my forehead into the laptop.

"STUPID!" I yelled at myself. "Thor! We have an emergency, there's an inbound civilian airliner preparing for a crash landing. See if you can get it safely down to the nearest airport."

"Copy that, sir, shouldn't be a problem." Tyrone replied. "Observations indicate that a couple of enemy craft were downed by the blast, authorities might start asking questions soon."

"Copy that." I replied as Bruce walked back in.

"What happened?" He asked. "Everything seemed to be fine..."

"An oversight." I replied. "The Ion radiation had a much larger blast radius than I'd anticipated. It shorted out a lot of airborne instruments. Land units will be fine because they're grounded, but Ion radiation is devastating to anything airborne. On the bright side, we took out a few enemy ships with it." I sighed, shaking my head. "Be ready to back up Thor if he needs it, though. I'm not gonna let those people get hurt over my lack of foresight." The girls all exchanged worried glances. "Thor, status report." I said as I walked back outside.

"I'm en route, ETA five seconds." Tyrone replied. I nodded and motioned for Bruce to join me out back.

"I'm coming too." Rei said. "I still need to try the suit on anyway."

"Hell, we'll all go." Usagi said. "Let's do it."

"Alright, lets go." I hit my buckle as I stepped out, summoning my armor and taking to the sky as I cloaked. Magellan was next off the ground followed by Rei, Ami, Makoto, Minako, and Usagi. Mamoru, having to work that day, wasn't present. The girl's suits reflected their fukus as closely as a mech suit could possibly achieve such a thing.

"Wow, this is amazing." Ami said.

"They look awesome too." Minako cheered. "Fits perfectly!"

"This is certainly different." Rei's voice chimed in.

"Thor here, contact made, this thing is heavy sir, I can buy some time, but I'm gonna need help."

"Copy that, we're on our way, ETA fifteen seconds." I replied. Everyone cloaked their armors and took off. "Notice how we still show up on each other's HUD. Here's the formation. Moon, you're flying beneath me. Magellan, you're to my right. Mars, you're to my left. Venus, you're on Magellan's right. Jupiter, Mars' left. Mercury, you're above me, everyone ready?" A chain of affirmative responses came back over the communications array. "Alright, Photon thrusters, everyone try to keep up." I said as we shot towards the designated location.

"Wow! We're flying and not even using our own powers!" Minako cheered. "This is just like a video game!"

"Yeah, but in this game, there is no reset button." I chuckled a response. "Alright, we're coming up on the plane. I'll take the nose cone, Magellan, you take the tail. Moon and Mars, take the right wing, Jupiter and Venus take the left. Mercury, I need you to stay cloaked and keep me posted on the pilots' activity." Another chain of affirmative responses came at me. We approached the plane and ducked down beneath it, each of us taking our places and together we provided enough thrust to keep the plane airborne.

"The pilots seem perfectly fine, Ares." Mercury stated. "In fact, it's like they're not even worried... strange." She continued.

"How so?" I asked.

"Well, I know if I were in charge of a flying bus full of people and it suddenly lost power, then seemed to start flying of it's own accord again... I'd be a little bit concerned." She replied. "Hang on I'm gonna check something." She darted around to the side of the plane. "Ares, we have a situation." She replied suddenly. "There are no civilians on board this plane, repeat, there are no civilians on board this plane."

"What the hell?" I asked. About that time ten flight craft belonging to the enemy uncloaked all around us, they hadn't even showed up on the radar. "IT'S A TRAP! SCATTER! EVASIVE MANEUVERS!" I called out and simultaneously we all dropped the plane and began scattering as laser fire opened up on us from all different directions.

"PUNGH!" Venus was hit almost immediately and knocked out of the sky.

"VENUS NO!" Magellan shot down towards her and took a blast to the back, knocking out his thrusters.

"MARS!" I called out, looking for her. She was with Usagi, dodging fire from another ship. "Leave her ALONE!" My afterburn cannon extended and fired, putting a hole through the ship and destroying it. Thor flew by a second one, clobbering the windshield with his massive hammer and downing the ship before a blast caught him in the back as well. He turned around and took one more in the chest before falling out of the sky. I spun around in the air just in time for one to slam it's nose cone into my chest launching me backwards, I quickly fired my thrusters to stabilize myself and took aim.

"AUGH!" Rei's voice cried out. I turned in time to see two more blasts hit her before she fell. Just then, I felt a jolt from my left side and the critical alarm began going off.

"No... NO! I REFUSE!" I roared, feeling the fire build up within me. I turned to face the oncoming ship that moved to ram me again. My cannon was disabled so I drew my sword which somehow had wreathed itself in flames. "ARES FLAMEWAVE STRIKE!" I roared out spinning around and slashing at the plane. As if on command a line of rolling fire shot forward in an arc and cleaved the enemy craft in two halves. I then turned myself and aimed down, moving to grab Rei before she fell to the ground, but she was gone already. "What the...? Where did they go?"

"Ares! PUNGH!" Jupiter's voice cried out before she fell as well. I watched her fall until she vanished behind a cloaking field about five hundred feet beneath us.

"Son of a bitch..." I growled before shooting myself down towards the field. I broke through the field and was immediately mowed down by the laser fire of the two hundred enemy soldiers waiting for us. I was the last one captured... We had lost.


	21. The Gift of Fire

We found ourselves processed and stripped of our armor before we were thrown, literally, into a massive holding cell of some sort. We were dressed in loose fitting garments that were equivalent to a prisoner's uniform and stripped of any kind of potential weapons or miscellaneous items. Being the last one to be captured, naturally, I was the last one to arrive as well, and was tossed in harshly. They'd kept my glasses so my vision was blurry and my equilibrium was off. I hit the metallic floor with a thud and just laid there for a moment.

"Welcome aboard Commander Ares." A voice said from behind me. "They call me Hot Rod, and it seems I'm the last general that remains loyal to Hakai Suru. Now that we've apprehended not only you but Miss Hino as well, we'll be preparing all of you for the wedding. Which reminds me..." He tossed something at me that bounced across the metal floor until it rolled to a stop in front of my face. I could see things clearly that were that close. It was the engagement ring I'd given to Rei. "...she won't be needing that anymore, though, really, neither will you when he arrives. I'd kill you all myself, but you've given him so much trouble that he's insisted upon having the honor of tainting your souls instead. When this is all said and done, you'll be working for him as low level soldiers." He laughed and shook his head. "Death by irony, what a way to go." I picked up the ring and clutched it in my fist, closing my eyes and tightening my jaw as the tears of rage began stinging without mercy.

"So help me, Hot Rod, when I get out of here, I'm going to kill you." I growled quietly. He scoffed and shook his head.

"Save your breath, Ares, you'll need it to beg for mercy later." He said before his blurred figure turned and walked away. His voice was not the voice of Greg, further confirming that if Poseidon was still among the enemy, it had to be Glitch. I slid over to the barred wall of the cell and held the ring in front of my face.

"Alex, are you alright?" Usagi moved to sit beside me as did several others. Tyrone and Bruce simply laid back in the cell and stayed quiet.

"I should've seen this coming. I was too arrogant, this is my fault." Rei was not among them, I knew. She was a far more important prisoner than any of us. Were I in his shoes, Rei would be kept prisoner within the confines of a luxury suite of some sort, I imagined that she was likely in the best position to cause problems for Hot Rod and rescue the rest of us, though, there were still others on Earth who could make the attempt as well. I hadn't heard from Jackson in nearly two months now, so I doubted that he'd be in a position to do anything.

"You're not giving up, are you?" Makoto asked. I shook my head and put the ring in my mouth before finding a loose thread on my uniform and pulling it out to a length of about three feet before ripping it off entirely. I used it to make a kind of necklace to hang the ring around my neck.

"Can't give up." I replied. "This is no dream, this is my reality, if I give up on her, if I give up on myself, then I'm already dead. I know what I want, and I'm not going to stop until I achieve it or until I've died trying, whichever comes first." I stood up and walked out to the middle of the floor in the cell. Tyrone and Bruce turned to look at me.

"Sup?" Bruce asked.

"We need to be ready." I told them. Bruce and Tyrone exchanged glances.

"You're thinking of trying to bust out of here?" Tyrone asked. "How are you planning on doing that?"

"Especially since you're kinda blind right now, dude." Bruce pointed out.

"Because I know how to summon my armor." I replied. Bruce and Tyrone both sat up straight.

"They took away your teleporter, didn't they?" Bruce asked. I shook my head.

"Not that armor, my real armor." They exchanged glances again and nodded before laying back on the ground.

"Well then, let us know when you're ready, Sir. It won't work seeing as this cell is charged with an anti-power field that will not allow mystical energies of any type in or out, but we're still yours to command, beats going back through Hakai's ranks." Bruce sighed. I nodded and walked over to a quiet spot and sat down, a popular means of connecting one's self with their own inner energies was meditation back home. In many animes, it was also a popular means of massing power of the ki and/or chi types. It couldn't hurt to try, so I did.

"Welcome, Alex." A voice greeted me. I opened my eyes and found myself standing in what appeared to be a desert fortress of some sort. The structure was made of sand stone blocks, likely as thick, if not thicker, than the ones used to construct the Egyptian pyramids. The interior was decorated in red, purple, and gold. The tapestries that draped over the walls were beautifully crafted and inlaid with gold and silver threads that made them twinkle in the dim fire light. The floors were polished to a glassy finish that allowed the light from the wall-mounted torch sconces to reflect and refract, showering the place in a brilliant rainbow of lights and effects.

"Oh wow, this place is beautiful." I gasped out. A hand patted me on the shoulder and chuckled.

"Isn't it, though? I remember, I had that saw awestruck look on my face when Rei's parents first brought me here for training." It was Ares. Not my power armor, but the REAL Commander Ares. "Even still, though, the beauty of this place is only a vain attempt to capture the inherent beauty of the Martian Princess."

"Ares... wait... you're me?" I asked. He stopped and chuckled, shaking his head.

"Quite to the contrary, Alex, I'm not you. But you are me. I exist within you and always have." He nodded. "Hakai Suru will bring you here, to The Martian palace. He cannot rightfully marry Rei until he has resolved the dispute between the two of you, as is Martian custom. There will be a duel and he will attempt to use one of these against you." Ares held up a ruby like the one in the plastic bag. "If you allow it to touch your heart, it will devoid you of humanity and you will become a mindless creature, acting solely on your desires without concern for the well being of any other creature or thing.

"Is that what happened?" I asked. He nodded slowly, shamefully.

"The witch is still beside me, manipulating me with her powers. She will attempt to manipulate you as well, and don't be surprised if she successfully manipulates Rei. Remember your honor, though you may not be of Martian birth, the spirit of Mars and it's people burns hot within your heart. He offered me a hand and I accepted it, grabbing his wrist and he mine. "I've one last gift for you, it is the cumulative sum of my powers. Use them wisely and may they serve you better than they did me." A rolling ring of fire traveled down his arm and made contact with mine driving a burning pain through my entire body.

"AAAAHHHHHHHHH!" I cried out, my body thrashing around inside the cell, bringing the others to their feet and drawing the attention of the guards as well. My body cried out and my limbs lashed out, but my eyes were closed and my consciousness was not there.

"What the hell is going on out here?" Hot Rod yelled.

"I don't know." Tyrone said. "He just started going into seizures... I think he was meditating."

"GUARDS! TRAIN!" Hot Rod yelled and each of the other six prisoners had a rifle aimed at them as Hot Rod opened the door and walked into the cell. "Back away all of you." He walked up to me and sighed. "Dammit. Get him to medical now, Hakai will have my ass if he doesn't survive. MOVE IDIOTS!" He kicked a slower moving guard. The rest of them ran up with a stretcher and moved my body over to the stretcher. Bruce and Tyrone cocked an eyebrow each and exchanged glances suspiciously, but then returned to their prone positions in the center of the cell as the girls lined up on the cage wall, watching them carry my convulsing body away.


	22. A Change of Plans

"His vital signs are all over the charts, Sir, I've never seen anything like this before." One of the med techs said, his helmet visor nearly glued to the monitors he was watching. "His weight and muscle mass appears to be changing as well, it's like he's transforming... but..."

"Let me guess." Hot Rod cut him off with an annoyed sigh. "You've never seen anything like it before?" The guard started to respond but stopped short. "What about sedation? Could we try that?"

"Sure, if you want to throw him into cardiac arrest with a potential aneurism." The tech replied. "His body has been convulsing for an hour now... If we even try to stick him with a needle, he'll tear his own arteries wide open and bleed out. Best I can say is that we should wait for him to stop. Keep his shoulders and head strapped down so he doesn't snap his own neck, and wait."

"Fine, we'll wait then. Wait... I have another idea..." The man's jet black eyes glinted evilly. "I'll be right back." His shoulder length hair flitted about behind him as he walked, like black wisps of his own evil energy were pouring out of his head. His armor was less like armor and built more like a suit of motorcycle racing leathers. He walked down a series of corridors until he came to another door guarded by two more soldiers. "Report."

"She hasn't made a sound in the past hour, Sir." The first one said.

"Except for the occasional sob." The second one nodded. Hot Rod's eyes darted back to the first one.

"No sound? Or occasional sobs? Which is it?" He asked. The two guards glanced at each other momentarily before looking back to Hot Rod.

"There were occasional sobs, Sir." The first one admitted. Hot Rod nodded and moved like lightning, producing a pistol, planting the muzzle against the first guard's helmet and squeezing the trigger. A red spray lined the wall behind him and before the body even had a chance to fall, Hot Rod had reholstered his gun.

"Lying to an officer is an act of treason and will not be tolerated. You. You're relieved for now, be back in thirty minutes with a new partner or you're next. And take this trash with you." Hot Rod growled as he kicked the now dead guard.

"S-sir!" The remaining one replied dragging his former comrade off down the corridor. Hot Rod shook his head before opening the door, revealing Rei inside the room, her face buried in the pillow on her bed. She looked up, her eyes red and swollen, sadness was instantly replaced with fury.

"What do you want?" She asked angrily.

"Just thought you'd like to see your former boyfriend convulse himself into an early grave." Hot Rod chuckled. "Last rights being what they are and everything." Rei's eyes widened.

"What did you do to Alex?"

"I did nothing, except throw him in that cell. Who knows, all this time he's been flying around in that armor, maybe he's allergic to metal." Hot Rod rolled his eyes. "If you don't want to, I can just..."

"No, please, take me to him." Rei said stepping forward and reaching out slightly. Hot Rod cut another short chuckle.

"Very well, come on then, walk in front, keep your hands behind your back where I can see them." He drew his pistol again and motioned with it. "Try anything stupid and I'll blow out your knees. I'm not allowed to kill you, the master said nothing about crippling you though, move." Rei did as she was told walking about three feet in front of Hot Rod as he navigated her through the labyrinth of corridors. This floating fortress of theirs was quite impressive in size it seemed. Eventually, though, they reached the infirmary and she gasped when she saw my body strapped down to a table, shaking as though I were being electrocuted.

"Alex!" She cried out.

"So, Ares is still shaking huh?" Hot Rod asked the tech who nodded and motioned towards the glass that separated him and I. "Still no explanation?" The tech shook his head and repeated the gesture. Hot Rod turned to Rei. "There you have it. He's strapped down nice and tight so his flailing can't hurt anyone, you may go in and speak to him if you think it will do any good for anyone." He sighed motioning towards the door with his pistol. Rei nodded.

"Th-thank you..." She said, it felt very strange to thank her captor, but he was doing her a favor in her eyes. She walked quickly over to the door, opening it and slipping inside, closing it again.

"Should I bug the room, Sir?" The tech asked. Hot Rod shrugged.

"Why, are you so hard up that you want to listen in on someone else's love conversations?" He chuckled, eyeing the room through the glass.

"You're being awfully considerate to the prisoners, Sir. What're you up to?"

"Just watch." Hot Rod nodded towards the glass again as Rei began walking up to my shaking body.

"Alex... it's me... are you awake?" She asked. She stepped up to the bedside and placed a hand on my chest. Almost instantly, the seizures ended and my body relaxed, though I remained unconscious. Rei's eyebrows furrowed as she withdrew her hand for a moment, then returned it to my chest. "My god... it can't be..." She moved over to my face and opened my eyelids for a moment before smelling my hair. "It's him... but..." She returned her hand to my chest and started to lift my shirt.

"Whoa, whoa, that's enough of that now..." Hot Rod laughed as he walked in. "I said you could see him, not have sex..."

"What did you do to him, you bastard?" She roared. "What did you pump him with steroids or something?" Hot Rod gave her a confused look and then noticed my arms, my biceps alone were twice the size they had been previously. He looked back out at the tech.

"Not a clue, Sir. All I know is that his body dimensions match Commander Suru's almost perfectly." Hot Rod turned back to me and cocked his head to the side.

"What are you up to, Ares? Planning a coup?" He asked, pressing the pistol's muzzle under my chin and forcing my head to tilt back a little bit as he tightened his jaws and clenched his teeth. "Ohhhh, how easy it would be to just end you right now..."

"Stop it!" Rei ran over and pushed Hot Rod away from me, catching him off guard, he staggered backwards about three feet before growling and glaring at her murderously.

"Touch me again you wench and you will live to REGRET it!" He roared as he smacked her with the pistol's barrel. I hadn't been conscious up to that point but the instant that gun barrel connected with her cheek my eyes snapped open, but they were different. No longer blue, they had a purplish hue to them, as though a fire were burning deep behind the blue iris's and it's crimson light were trying to escape. The leather straps holding me down were nothing for my new-found strength to snap as I shot out of the bed and tackled Hot Rod to the ground, ripping the pistol from his hand and belting him across the face with it once, twice, three times. Finally, I finished and stood back up, my tightened jaws and glowering gaze making it perfectly clear that I would kill him without hesitation if provoked.

"Touch her again, and you will not." I growled. He laughed through his bloodied face and moved into a sitting position, holding his hands up and grinning wickedly at me.

"So what's the plan now, Ares? Hm? You gonna kill me? You won't make it five steps." He stood up, keeping his hands up and leaned back against the wall. "Put the gun down, before I'm forced to have you killed." He said, his tone condescending.

"Alex..." Rei clung to my back.

"Don't worry, we're leaving now." I said, moving her back away from me with my free hand. Hot Rod gave me an incredulous look, as though he were extremely amused by my statement.

"Leaving are you? Okay, I'll humor you, show me how you plan on leaving." He sighed and folded his arms across his chest. "Because unless your plan includes a body bag and a morgue, I'd say you're off to a pretty pathetic start." He nodded his head towards the glass window. There were ten soldiers outside all training rifles on me.

"Rei, listen to me, get behind the gurney, and whatever I do, you don't move until I'm either captured, killed, or successful, understand?" I asked.

"Alex..."

"Rei, please, I can't focus on them if I'm worried about you." Hot Rod sighed and tapped his foot rolling his eyes.

"Alright love birds, we have a fight scene to enact, so if you could get to the point, those of us with actual agendas could maybe get back to them?" He said. Rei quickly moved behind the gurney and ducked down. They'd confiscated her henshin icon, so Sailor Mars wouldn't be showing up right now anyway. After she'd ducked down I quickly dropped the gun's clip and un-chambered the last round before tossing it back to Hot Rod.

"Wow, giving up already? Some escape plan, Ares. I concede, you are the better strategist." He scoffed, replacing the clip with a new one and chambering a round while rolling his eyes. When he brought his eyes back to me, however, he found a golden sword blade aimed at his throat. Standing where I had once been was Commander Ares in his true armor, his eyes set to flame beneath the helm. "How did you...? Nevermind... DIE!" He jumped back through the door way, emptying the pistol clip at me, my movements were faster than his, however, and he quickly found nearly every shot deflected back at him and his men. Five of the men fell dead and three more rounds had punched through his armor, sending him sprawling to the ground, wounded and in pain, but not dead.

"Come on then, boys." I said with a grin as I stepped out of the room, the soldiers began backing away, looking shaken and very demoralized. "Who wants to dance with the god of war?"

"KILL HIM NOW!" Hot Rod roared. The laser rounds opened up and my sword was set to spinning again deflecting blast after blast before I charged a fireball into my free hand and launched it at the first one, smashing him backwards into his buddies and sending them all sprawling. I then walked over to Hot Rod who growled and stared at me furiously.

"Here's how this is gonna work, Hot Rod. You're gonna release my friends from the cage. You're gonna give us back our clothes and our stuff, and then you're gonna get your ass to the bridge and pilot this thing to your commander."

"Not without you I'm not..." He growled.

"I'm not leaving, retard." I mocked him. "You're going to take me to him, and you're going to mind your manners while you're doing it. If I hear so much as a whisper, see so much as a single bullet casing, feel so much as a slight change in the temperature that I don't like, I will blow this barge to hell with you and all of your men on it."

"You'd kill yourself and her?" He asked with a laugh. "I call bullshit, Ares."

"Oh no, see, SHE will not be here. Nor will her friends, it'll just be me and the boys..."

"Alex, you're not leaving me here like that." Rei stepped forward.

"Fine, whatever, yes I'll kill myself and her too, now move scumbag!" I said simply motioning with the blade for him to scatter. "Better that than to let you run around this world all willy nilly. Besides, we're not the only ones you have to worry about." He did as he was told, begrudgingly, but he made his way to the bridge and ordered the cell to be opened. I headed back down to the area with Rei in tow. Boy were they gonna be surprised to see me. Little did I know how big a surprise was waiting for me there.


	23. A Girl Worth Fighting For

Mamoru and the others caught up to us before we'd left and we began preparing ourselves for the upcoming battle, though I seemed to be the primary topic of focus. The guys were congratulating me on rediscovering my inner power, the girls wanted to know how I did it, and Rei was strangely quiet. It wasn't until the end of the first day when I approached her after everyone else had gone to bed that I got a chance to speak with her.

"Is something wrong, Rei?" I asked when she invited me into her room. She started to say something, but then stopped, then started again, then stopped again. "Just tell me, what's up?"

"Why are you doing this, Alex?" She asked finally. "Why are you going to fight him now?"

"Because I have to, this is how it has to end, otherwise it never will." I tried my best to explain what Ares had told me. As I did so, she nodded and her eyes seemed to grow cold and distant.

"Alex, I won't be watching. Unless they bind and gag me, I won't even be there." She nodded slowly. "I'm not saying that I don't believe in you. I do believe you can win, but I can't watch you get hurt..." She shook her head slowly. "And what if you don't win?" She sat beside me on the bed. The bedroom was nicely decorated with a Martian theme, the whole scene made me feel a bit euphoric. Every dream, and at the same time, every nightmare I'd ever had was all coming true. I felt a twinge of regret that my parents couldn't see me right now, but then I stopped, even now, after I had everything I'd ever wanted here, I still lacked their respect, and it still mattered.

"I'll win." I replied with a nod. "One way or another, Hakai Suru cannot defeat me." I said quietly. Rei looked up at me with a strange look in her eyes.

"You've changed, Alex." She said quietly.

"Change is inevitable, Rei." I replied as our faces began closing the distance between each other. "The only thing that will never change, is my love for you."

"I love you too, Alex." She replied, only a moment before our lips met. Her kiss still felt as good to me as it had the first time. Fireworks exploded in my head and time came to a grinding halt it seemed, even if only for those few moments. After our lips parted and the euphoria began dying down, she rested her head against my shoulder and we wrapped our arms around each other. I don't know if it was the testosterone levels having been increased by my new body structure, or if it was just the mood and atmosphere, but thoughts began running through my mind that were somewhat overpowering.

"You know, Rei..." I started, taking a deep breath and swallowing. "...I remember hearing about this Native American custom back home." She lifted her head and looked at me curiously. "It was a ritual they performed before the braves would go off to battle against enemy tribes. Each brave, whether they were married or not, the chieftain would assign a woman to each brave, and these women would..." Rei took a suspicious look on her face for a moment, cocking her head to the side ever so slightly. "...well, they would, um, make love to... the warriors... in the belief that the act would empower their braves... you know... ensuring their return home after the battle." I finished, my face about as red as it could possibly be. Immediately, I reproached myself for the comment, it was only a few days ago when this topic became an issue.

"I see, and what was the success rate of this ritual?" Rei asked. The question caught me off guard, whereas I had been expecting some sort of yelling or maybe even a violent response, she responded with curiosity.

"Um, my history teacher didn't go into that much detail. He was reprimanded for even telling us about it." I chuckled lightly in a vain attempt to mask my nerves.

"And you want this to happen?" She asked, turning to face me. I looked a bit sheepish where I sat.

"I'd be lying to say no, but I don't want you to do something that you don't feel comfortable doing either." She nodded and bit her lip for a moment, folding her hands into her lap.

"Alex, I'm going to be perfectly frank with you." She said finally, after taking a deep breath of her own. I waited for the bad news to hit, I remembered hearing my mom and dad have their talks, and usually when mom said something like that it meant that bad news was coming and dad was in the dog house. "I love you, I can't deny it, I can't fight it, it is what it is and I wouldn't change a thing about it, even if I could. It's been six months, and I feel as though we've been together for a lifetime already. Our relationship has moved really fast, and I'm not going to lie, Alex, it scares me. There's a saying in the Shinto community, usually reserved for couples who fall madly in love with each other and want the world for each other right away. It goes: 'The hotter the flame the faster it burns out.'" She sighed. "It isn't always true, but I can count on my two hands with fingers to spare how many success stories come from these kinds of relationships as opposed to failures. How can I be sure that this won't be the same?"

"Statistically speaking, those relationships burn out when the couple argues over petty things such as money, possessions, property, jealousy issues, etcetera. Rei, we don't have any of those problems." I countered.

"Yet, Alex. We don't have any of those problems, yet. What if your business goes bankrupt? What if your inventions can't continue providing for us? What then?"

"The money that I've made currently is more than enough to sustain us, our kids, their kids, and their kids kids for a lifetime..." She stopped and cocked an eyebrow at me. "What? You don't want kids?" She laughed and shook her head for a moment.

"You missed it didn't you?" She asked. "What were we just arguing about?"

"That wasn't arguing, I was trying to prove a point." I replied. She rolled her eyes and sighed.

"And that's different from an argument how?" I started to respond, then stopped.

"You're egging this on, aren't you?" I asked. She nodded with a knowing smile on her face. "Okay, why would you egg on an argument about not having arguments?"

"Because I'm trying to prove a point." She replied, smiling at me victoriously. I was defeated.

"Okay, for future reference, you're going to be handling my contract negotiations in the future." I chuckled and sighed, before falling back on the bed and covering my face with my hands with a sigh. Before I realized it, she had laid back as well and had rolled over so that she was partially on top of me.

"So, you see, we can still have problems. I'm a bullheaded individual, you're a firmly independent man." She said running a hand down the front of my t-shirt. "I've heard that sex complicates relationships." I nodded.

"I've heard that as well, every time Bruce broke up with a girlfriend." I chuckled and shook my head.

"And you don't think ours is complicated enough as it stands?" Rei chuckled.

"I just don't see why it should complicate things." I replied with a shrug. "Everything that I was raised to believe says that it should be reserved as the truest possible expression of love for the person you intend to spend the rest of your life with." I responded. She nodded and swallowed, her eyes appearing to mist up for a moment.

"You're too sweet, Alex." She said, resting her head on my chest. "I... I'm not ready... but if you come back to me after this is done, I promise you it will happen." She smiled. "So there's some extra incentive for you." I felt my shirt dampening beneath her and I knew she was crying.

"I will come back to you, Rei, whether it happens or not." I wrapped my arms around her and we just laid there, at some point I drifted off to sleep, but I didn't dream that night, I simply slept comfortably and peacefully with her in my arms. If it had to be my last night in existence, it was a night well spent.


	24. The Darkest Hour

Meanwhile, in an undisclosed location...

"Sir?" One of the agents asked when the old man usually found sitting in a wing back chair behind his massive desk appeared in the command room.

"Where is Agent Jackson?" He asked, adjusting the glasses which masked his crystal blue eyes, caressed by neatly trimmed, snow-white eyebrows. "Why has he not made his report?"

"Sir, Agent Jackson left two days ago in the proto-type Hyperion Armor, he said he was taking it for test runs." The old man's eyes widened a bit and he ran a hand through his neatly parted and styled white hair. The cufflinks of his jacket refracted some of the light, the Martian emblem was emblazoned on the small buttons.

"Did he say anything else? Anything at all?" One of the younger agents looked confused for a moment. "Actually, Sir, there was something else, about a week ago he got a call from someone who identified himself as Hades..."

"Dear god... set a course for Mars immediately!" The old man replied. "Jackson is a traitor! He's going to interfere directly, this could cost us everything that we've worked for. You." He pointed to the younger agent. "You're receiving a field promotion, report to me immediately as soon as we are in teleportation range, I'll be in the armory..." He trailed off, rubbing his wrist with a sigh. "I'd hoped that it wouldn't come down to this old friend."

"Anything else, Mr. Simpleton?" The agent asked, to which the old man turned and smiled.

"No, that will be all." He replied before turning and heading for the armory, a very familiar look of determination burning dimly in the back of his eyes.

"ALEX!" I was awakened by Rei's scream the following morning and sat up straight, immediately spotting what, or rather, WHO it was that had frightened her. She sat behind me on her knees, with her hands on my shoulders as we both stared at Glitch who stood in our doorway. He looked panicked and almost as frightened as Rei was.

"No, no no no no, I'm not here f-f-f-for trouble." He stammered, shifting around where he stood. "I snuck on board, tee hee hee."

"What the hell do you want?" I asked, sliding forward and standing up.

"The master... The Master wants me dead... dead dead dead dead..." Glitch replied.

"That's typically how guys like Suru operate, Glitch. It's why being evil doesn't pay, the first time you make your boss angry, you're not likely to live through it..." Glitch erupted into laughter. "What the hell is so funny?"

"I said The Master, not Commander." He replied. "Master is not Suru. Suru is Commander, Master is the Destria Witch!"

"Wait..." I said, cutting him off. "You mean the witch that Ares destroyed?" I asked. Glitch looked at me with a dumbfounded expression.

"Ares? Tee hee... they lied... hoo boy did they lie to you. Lies lies lies lies..." I was getting angry now. I rushed forward and grabbed his collar, easily lifting him off the ground and slamming his back against the wall.

"Laugh at me one more time, freak, and you're finished. What are you talking about?"

"Ares never fought Destria Witch, if Ares fights, Ares wins... Poseidon hates Ares... banished Ares, he did. Took him by surprise! Convinced Thor and Magellan to... betray..." My eyes widened as the door opened. Hot Rod, Bruce, and Tyrone all three stood there. Glitch's eyes widened and he began grabbing at my arm in an attempt to free himself. I released him as I stared at the sheepish expressions on Tyrone and Bruce's faces.

"It's true." Bruce said. "Poseidon told us that Ares was planning on usurping the Kingdom by marrying into royalty, namely..."

"Rei." I replied. "And you guys believed it?"

"Ares was on a constant power trip, dude, you don't remember because you weren't there..."

"Apparently I was, Bruce." I replied. He shook his head.

"That isn't possible, dude. The fact that you have Ares' powers makes no sense at all." Bruce replied.

"And why is that?" I asked, my brows furrowed in anger and rage. Glitch backed away as the flames began appearing on my body.

"Ares was never killed, he's not dead, hence he couldn't be reincarnated." Hot Rod replied. "It's a simple concept really, the same person cannot exist twice in the same place at the same time. Hakai Suru wants you dead, Ares, it's as simple as that. Always has been, always will be."

"I thought they were the same person?" I asked. Hot Rod shook his head. "Then who... oh no..."

"You guessed it." Hot Rod replied.

"It was Poseidon that battled the witch." Tyrone said with a sigh. "It was Tyrone that discovered the Destrian Ruby, and it's Poseidon that lives within Hakai Suru's armor now. He's an old man for sure, but his powers have only grown."

"And is there a reason that this was not presented to me earlier?" I asked through clenched teeth.

"It wouldn't have been presented to you at all had Glitch not been a bad little stow away." Hot Rod smirked at him. "What did you think defeating the Destrian Ruby shards would be so easy as to simply have Sailor Moon perform her little healing dance? They've been the perfect little spies." Bruce and Tyrone looked up and allowed the evil-looking red glints to appear in their eyes again. I took up a defensive stance immediately.

"Oh please, if we'd wanted to kill you, Ares, we'd have done it already, in your sleep." Hot Rod scoffed. "No, we want justice, that's what we want. That's what the ruby wants. It makes you seek only your greatest desires... he's going to try and enslave you with it, so the question is, what is it that you want and what lengths will you take to get it?" I couldn't avoid the reflexive glance over my shoulder at Rei. "Ahhhh, love is a powerful motivator, isn't it? Much more so when you're compelled by nothing other than that love." He grinned. "So, was it made official last night?"

"Shut the hell up..." I growled.

"No YOU shut up, Ares. Shut up and listen closely because there's far more riding on this than you even know. Poseidon wants you dead for a reason, he thirsts for power, both magical and political. Once he's gotten you, his biggest threat, out of the picture, he'll destroy that sweet little honey behind you, and then he'll destroy everyone else on this barge... all of Earth's champions gathered in one place at one time. My men and I have only ever lived for one purpose, to fight and die for the Moon Kingdom, but these damned rubies will not allow us to disobey a direct order from The Master or Suru." He explained. "We need you to release us from this curse."

"Heh, irony at it's finest." I retorted. "The man you exiled is now the man you're begging for help." Tyrone stepped forward and growled.

"I make no excuses for what we did, Sir." He replied. "I make no excuses for what I'm about to do. All I can tell you is that you have forty-eight hours to break this curse."

"And why is that, Tyrone?" I asked. He shoved me off to the side with such force that I simply couldn't withstand it. I crashed into the wall as he moved forward and grabbed Rei as she tried to scamper away from him.

"NO! LET ME GO!" She cried out, fighting in vain against Tyrone's monster grip. Tyrone quickly brandished a syringe filled with a clear liquid and injected it into her back, causing her to go wide eyed, giving me one last desperate look before she passed out and fell unconscious.

"Because we were just ordered to put her in Suru's custom torture chamber." Bruce answered. "No one has ever survived inside for longer than two days." My eyes widened in conjunction with Rei's. Tyrone didn't look happy at all.

"I'm sorry, Sir." He replied simply before heading out. I charged after him but he spun and launched a bolt of lightning at me that struck me in the chest and launched me backwards. Bruce and Hot Rod immediately turned and followed as I started trying to stand up.

"Forty-eight hours, Ares. We'll be landing in two." Hot Rod stated.

"Wait..." I started after them, but the door was closed and locked. "I'll kill him..." I growled, pounding on the door as tears stung at my eyes in rage. "I'll fucking kill him... D'YOU HEAR ME GREG? YOU'RE FUCKING DEAD!" I roared so loudly that I thought my vocal chords might rip themselves from my throat, it didn't matter though, I couldn't win. It didn't matter what angle I took, it didn't matter how hard I tried, I couldn't protect her.

"You... y-y-y-you can beat him..." A small, timid, panicked voice spoke from the far back corner of the room. Glitch was there, curled into the fetal position, sitting up right with his arms wrapped tightly around his knees as he rocked back and forth. I stared at him, unsure of what to think of him. It seemed that everything was being turned upside down time and time again. "He can't can't can't can't can't play... m-m-m-mind games... when you have a sword at his throat... tee... tee hee..." he wasn't even laughing anymore.

"Thank you, Glitch..." I said, finding the irony in my own situation. My once most hated enemy was now the only apparent ally I had.


	25. The Beginning's End

Bruce, Tyrone, and Hot Rod walked behind me as we stepped off the ship. The girls, except for Rei, and Mamoru walked behind them. We found ourselves entering a massive, sand-stone arena. The sandy earth beneath my feet felt familiar and filled me with energy. The grandstands around us were abandoned, worn away by millenia of neglect. The stone walls were more than thirty feet high, preventing us from climbing them. My eyes took all of this in, however, they quickly found their focus standing about two hundred yards down field from me. It was the man who first appeared in my nightmares shortly after my arrival. The dark armored warrior, Hakai Suru.

"Has she been hurt yet?" I asked.

"I don't know." Tyrone replied. "The knock out drug will keep her immobilized for a while. It's possible that she'll escape injury by remaining perfectly still. The creatures may not even realize she's there."

"Creatures?" I asked.

"Best that you stay focused on finishing the fight quickly, Sir." Tyrone replied simply. I growled, but he was right. I couldn't let Poseidon get under my skin, if I did, he'd beat me for sure. We quickly moved across the field until we stood about fifty yards away from him. There were two others standing behind him, a woman on his right, and another man in a similar suit of armor on his left.

"Well, Ares?" Hakai Suru's voice scratched down my nerves like nails on a chalkboard. "Shall we begin?" He asked.

"Release her, and I'll make your death quick and painless, Greg." I said plainly. "Continue as you are now, and you will suffer before I destroy you." Hakai laughed and shook his head.

"Idle threats will do you no service here, Ares. I stopped paying attention to you a long time ago."

"I'm aware, old friend." A voice from behind him stated. Everyone turned and looked up in the stands. My power armor stood in the grandstands, with another pilot wearing it. "Stop this nonsense, Poseidon. You were never this foolish, even when you betrayed me, you had a better head on your shoulders than this."

"Ahhhh, the exiled fool returns. Chasing after your rogue hound, no doubt?" Hakai replied.

"When did you become so arrogant as to claim that title of Hades?" The man in the bleachers responded. Hakai laughed and shook his head.

"HEY!" I roared. "I'm sorry to interrupt this touching little reunion you two seem to be having, but I'm kinda in a hurry here. I have prior engagements that require my prompt attention and you're going to make me late." Hakai turned to me and scoffed.

"I see, well, my apologies then, Commander Ares, shall we begin?" I reached down and drew my sword with saying another word. Hakai's glowing red eyes, barely visible beneath the visor of his helmet, narrowed as he took his own stance. "Indeed. Hyperion, I leave the intruder to you. Destria, stay put, stay silent."

"As you wish, Commander." The woman beside him responded. It was another moment of silence before Hakai and I rushed forward at each other. He brandished his trident and the battle was on like Donkey Kong. I swung at his neck, he parried and tried to sweep my legs. I easily evaded his sweep attempt and kicked him in the chest, however the force of the kick pushed me back further than it pushed him. He laughed.

"My armor is an anti-kinetic suit designed to absorb any sort of incoming energy, Ares." He laughed. "You can hit me, but can you hurt me?" I jumped backwards as he stabbed his trident into the ground and growled, dashing forward at full speed I ran up the haft of the trident belting him in the face with a powerful kick before jumping up and flipping over in midflight bringing my sword down like an axe, right on his forehead. I landed on the ground behind him as he fell backwards, electricity arcing off his helmet.

"I dunno, Suru? Did that hurt?" I asked.

"DIE ARES!" He roared, thrusting his trident at me. It was no contest here, if it came down to a battle of pure brute strength, he'd have me completely whipped. However, his bulky armor made him slow and a bit clumsy, as opposed to my quick and dextrous nature, not to mention the energy that I felt coming from the planet itself. I side stepped his jab and swung hard, my sword blade catching the back of his trident's forks, ripping the weapon out of his hand and tossing it away.

"How'm I supposed to die when you can't even hit me?" I mocked him, delivering another sword stroke to his helmet, in a cross cut format this time. However, he reached out and grabbed my foot as I was running, tripping me. I fell to the ground with a thud and my sword bounced out of my hand.

"HERE! LET ME SHOW YOU!" He roared standing up and hanging me upside down by my leg. I now got a good look at his helmet. It was crackling with electricity because it was damaged really bad. Continuous strikes in the same area would weaken, and even destroy his anti-kinetic armor, provided I could get free, I could use this knowledge. Knowing Greg, his power source was likely dead center of his chest plate. I started trying to think of how to go about my task when my thoughts were interrupted by him swinging me by the leg and slamming my body against the sandy ground like a club. I don't think that first hit broke any bones, but it certainly hurt like hell and knocked the wind out of me.

"PUNGH!" I cried out before he spun around throwing me through the air and slamming my body, back first, against the sandstone wall that separated us from the grandstands. I fell to the ground on my hands and knees, my entire body feeling like a massive bruise as he laughed.

"And Ares has fallen, can he get up, ladies and gentlemen? Or will he let the girl of his dreams die in a most horrendous and unimaginably painful way?" I roared at him, my voice sounding more like a wild lion than my own before breaking from my hands and knees into a full tilt dash. "What the...?" Hakai regained his stance and struck at me again, but not fast enough, his fist hit the sand behind me as I slid across the ground on my back in between his legs, grabbing my sword from the ground behind him and bounding back to my feet rushing forward, this time aimed at the back of his left knee.

"ARES FLAMEWAVE STRIKE!" I roared out sheathing my blade in hot, rolling flames before connecting with the most powerful hit I could summon.

"AUGH!" I heard him yell in pain as I continued my charge and grinned broadly, screeching to a halt in front of the sandstone wall again before turning to face him. He was down to one knee, his left leg was now arcing just as badly, if not worse than his helmet.

"This fight is over, Suru." I smirked at him. "I'm going to pick you apart one piece at a time..." I was cut off by his laughter. He was obviously in pain, but he still managed to lift his right hand and point at me.

"With what weapon, Ares?" He laughed. I looked down and my eyes widened in horror. I'd hit him so hard in the last pass that my sword blade had shattered, leaving only about eight inches of blade left on the hilt. He slowly stood back up and moved over towards his trident with a limp, leaving me to quickly size up the situation. My weapon was crippled, but the fracture left one lagged point on it that could potentially pierce his armor with enough thrust behind it. It was a long shot, I didn't know how thick his armor was, but without my weapon, I'd be forced into hand to hand combat, and I likely wouldn't last long in that instance.

"No choice... here goes..." I growled out before charging at him at full speed again. "HEY SURU!" I roared, he turned his attention to me and drew back a fist. He swung about the same time I did. I felt my blade connect and then pierce his armor. I also felt his fist slam into my stomach with such force that a spurt of blood was ejected from my mouth. We both stopped dead in our tracks, the force of our collision sending up a spray of sand around us. I crumbled to my knees, releasing my grip on the sword hilt as he staggered backwards, the eight inch blade buried in his chest up to hand guard.

"Damn you... Ares..." He grunted out as he staggered down to a knee as well, about ten feet away from me. I coughed up another bit of blood and wiped the excess from my mouth with the back of my sleeve, my flaming eyes pierced through his visor with pure, unbridled hatred.

"It would seem, Commander, that we have a stale mate." The witch's voice announced it's presence closer to us.

"Not yet we don't." The other Ares spoke Walking up behind Suru and drawing his own sword.

"NO YOU DON'T OLD MAN!" Hyperion roared and dashed forward, tackling the other guy to the ground and knocking the sword from his hand so that it landed, handle up, in the ground right in front of me.

"TAKE IT ARES! FINISH HIM!" The other one shouted as he battled it out with Hyperion in a slug fest grapple fight off to my right.

"Do it, Ares. He is weakened and at your mercy!" The witch stated.

"You traitorous wench..." Suru spat at her. "...you will pay for this..."

"You lost Suru." I said standing up with a grunt that marked the exertion I had to put into it. My stomach and intestines were likely a chunky soup after that last hit he landed. The sword felt good in my hand.

"Do it then, Ares." Suru said. "Why do you hesitate? FINISH IT OR SHE DIES!" He roared. My eyes widened in fury once more and I spun around once, my new blade flashing like a bolt of red hot lightning as I stabbed the blade point first through the back of his now powerless armor. A massive geyser of blood erupted from his chest as the blade pierced clean through his heart, saturating the sand beneath him before the red glow in his evil eyes flickered out. "Finally... I... have found... peace.." He grunted out before collapsing to the ground lifelessly. It was over, I was victorious.

"Well done... Commander..." The witch grinned at me before she rushed forward and planted her hand against my chest.

"ARES NOOOOO!" The girls all stepped forward as if to help, but were stopped by Tyrone, Bruce, and Hot Rod.

"Wait!" Bruce said, his eyes narrowing as he scrutinized the situation.

"This is the moment we've been waiting for." Hot Rod chimed in with a nod. "Now the witch will perish... watch and see..." I felt something burning so intensely that it caused me a great amount of pain. My body began healing itself and feeling better than it ever had before immediately afterwards and I felt a massive rush of power surging through me.

"Now you're mine to command..." The witch cackled as my eyes began glowing with the same ruby light that Hakai's had earlier.

"Yours to command?" I chuckled. The witch's eyes widened in fear and confusion. "Only one woman has the power to command me, witch. AND YOU TRIED TO HAVE HER KILLED!" I roared, charging forward and wrapping my hand around her throat, dragging her along the ground until I reached the sandstone wall a couple of moments later, slamming her back against it, likely destroying any and every bone in her unprotected body. She cried out with a look of shock as I continued to slowly apply pressure to her throat.

"ARES STOP!" Usagi said running up to me. I turned to look at her.

"STAND DOWN, Sailor Moon, this bitch is going to pay for every ounce of treachery she's imposed upon us..."

"Alex, you need to save Rei." Usagi said, reaching up towards my arm. "The longer you delay, the longer she's in that room... She might not even be hurt right now." The witch was stunned and couldn't move, let alone speak.

"Fine then, I leave her to you." The glow in my eyes faded and flickered a bit and a pain in my chest ripped through my body as the witch began healing and laughing.

"YOU FOOL!" An explosion of force from her hands sent Usagi and I both flying backwards, Hyperion appeared behind me, wrapping me in a headlock.

"GRAH! What the...?" I cried out.

"Relax, Alex, it'll all be over soon." It was Jackson's voice.

"JACKSON? YOU SON OF A BITCH!" I drove an elbow into his ribs, the force of impact cracked the armor plating and drove him backwards, releasing me from his grip. I quickly darted around him and dashed at full speed picking up my sword as I ran, he was hot on my heels, his armor somehow enabled him to keep up with even my super fast speed. I ran straight towards the wall and then ran up it, leaping off at the last moment. He charged up at me, but mistimed it, sweeping right past me... and allowing my sword to slash a nice big wound straight down his back. He continued flying upwards and arced into the grandstands, landing on his back and rolling around in pain.

"Ares... Alex..." The other Ares crawled over towards me, his helmet destroyed, allowing me to see an old man... no... this old man looked familiar to me.

"What is it old one? Make it quick, my war awaits..." I growled.

"Focus, Ares. The Destrian Ruby is trying to capture your heart." He gasped out, reaching for my leg. "Think about this for a moment, how could she ever love anyone that even resembles that Suru character? He finally managed to touch my leg. "I don't have much left... but what I have, I now give to you." Another influx of power shot through my body, dropping me to my knees. I felt an immense pain in my chest and the glow in my eyes began flickering rapidly. "I give you... the power... of CHOICE!" He cried out the last word as the last of his life's energy passed into my body. I heard his dying words echoing through my mind. "Choose now, between life and death, between love and hate, between war and peace..."

Inside my mind, I faced those choices. Life and Death? The choice was a complicated one, I would rather die than lose Rei, but if I died, it would only serve to hurt Rei. If I lived on, I might lose her, but she wouldn't be hurt on my accord. I would much rather that we both live, though I couldn't control her life, all I could do was ensure that I did my part.

"Life..." I grunted out through the pain. The flickering became more erratic and my body began sparking flames here and there that coiled up towards my heart as the pain in my chest intensified driving another cry of agony from my throat. Next choice.

Love and Hate? At first glance the choice seemed so simple, until I realized that my life had not been piloted to this point by love. It had been because of the hate and resentment built up deep within my heart. Resentment that my parents would cast me out like I was some sort of used car that my dad could sell at his lot, or a flawed bill that my mother could simply vote out of existence. Hatred for those who'd betrayed me throughout my life. For my friends who'd been able to take that game so nonchalantly, while I poured every ounce of my being into it. For the doctors who'd kept me sedated into a stupor for two long, painful years. For Hakai Suru, who attempted, at every turn, to take, hurt, or even kill my beloved Rei. For the Destrian Witch who now attempted the same thing as well as tried to control my heart. And even an underlying hatred for Rei, whom I still held accountable for making me fall so deeply in love with her that I sacrificed everything I'd ever known. These feelings were constantly at war with my driving need to earn my parents love and prove my worth to them. My love for those friends who, in my world, hadn't spoken to me since the day of the incident, passing me off as a freak with a psychological problem. My respect for the doctors who were merely trying to help me through a difficult period of my life in the best way they knew how. For Greg, who, prior to that game had been my most trusted friend and confidant. My pity for the witch who would never know anything outside of greed or hatred herself, and finally, my overwhelming love for Rei, the entire reason I was here fighting instead of sitting in front of my computer hacking out my next invention. I was here risking my life for them. All of them. I felt an immense release from my heart as tears began stinging my eyes.

"Love..." I spat the word through my clenched teeth. Flames mixed with red arcs of electricity as my body became completely wracked with pain. I arched my back against it, a vain attempt to relieve myself of it as a red glowing circle appeared on my chest, the tip of the Destrian Ruby that the witch had planted inside of me beginning to appear.

"No!" The witch charged forward and buried her hand into my chest attempting to force the ruby back into my body.

"Next... ungh... choice..." I grunted out as the flames and energy arcs encompassed both of our bodies.

"There is no choice for you, Ares... you... are... MINE!"

"War... and... peace..." I growled out attempting to focus my pain wracked mind.

"A choice between war and peace?" The witch laughed. "You're Ares, You're the GOD of war, boy! How could you ever exist in a world of peace?"

"You... misunderstand... me... witch..." I growled as my arms curled forward, my hands wrapping around her forearm and forcing it back away from my chest, as the gap between her palm and my chest increased, the ruby was pulled further and further from my heart. It felt horrendous, as though I were ripping a knife blade from my own chest. "The reason... for war... is..." I was interrupted by a cry of pain as she began shoving back towards my chest again.

"Conquest! Wealth! POWER!" She roared, struggling against my grip. The look of determination on her face faltered, however, as I rose back to my feet, my muscle's flexing against her own as I forced her further back, the ruby was now nearly completely removed.

"NO!" I roared back. "To secure PEACE!" I roared back , shifting my weight and spinning around, swinging her by her arm and throwing her away from me, ripping the ruby free from my chest. My body instantly wreathed itself in flames. "SAILOR MOON! GO!" I roared, pointing at the witch.

"Right!" She said as the other girls lined up behind her. "Let's do it, girls, all together!" They took off running towards her, their collective tiara's glowing. "SAILOR PLANET ATTACK!" The battle cry ripped through the air, as did the torrential rainbow of power that shredded the witch into ribbons prior to those ribbons turning to dust. I didn't even stick around to watch the results though, I had to get to Rei. Bruce and Tyrone joined me, running behind me as we darted on board the ship.

"Left! Straight! Right! Right! STOP!" Bruce yelled directions as we screeched to a halt in front of the door. "Alright just let me open this..." BANG! A thunderous clattering of metal sounded off as Tyrone slammed his fist into the door, shattering it clean off it's hinges. "Yeah, or you could do that." Bruce rolled his eyes. I darted into the room and spotted the four plant-like creatures that had begun encasing Rei in what appeared to be a cocoon of vines and leaves. Like lightning I zipped around the room, my sword blade flashing and sending plant fragments flying as I neatly clipped through all of the vines before turning my rage onto the monsters themselves. Bruce and Tyrone each smashed one of the monsters as well, leaving me to release Rei from her bindings. Her clothing was ripped to shreds and she had several deep gashes along her arms, legs, and torso. She was weak, but still alive.

"Alex...?" She asked weakly as I picked her up and carried her out of that room heading back for the bedroom we'd been sitting in only hours earlier.

"Bruce, go get Sailor Moon and Mercury, quickly!" I commanded over my shoulder.

"I'm on it." He replied, bolting down the corridor as Tyrone and Hot Rod followed me. I quickly moved into the room and over to the bed, laying her down on the comforter. She'd lost a fair amount of blood.

"You won?" Rei asked, reaching a hand up to my face weakly.

"I did." I replied with a smile and nod. "Well, I had some help... but yes..." She smiled and tears welled up in her eyes. "I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner..." I said, closing my eyes as her hand touched my face. "Bruce, Tyrone, Hot Rod, everyone's free now." I glanced, instinctively, over to the corner where Glitch had been and spotted only a pile of dust. My eyes widened and I turned back to face Tyrone who was looking about twenty years older than he had only a moment earlier. "No... Tyrone?"

"We're old men, Alex. Haven't been reborn yet." He chuckled as he lowered himself to a knee, breathing heavily. "Without the ruby to sustain us... nature is taking hold of us once more. As you said, we're finally free."

"But... this isn't what I wanted..." I said, shaking my head. "How'm I supposed to be a commander if I have no knights to command?" Tyrone chuckled at the joke.

"We'll be back moron." He joked back. "You just... may... have to change... our diapers... for a while first..." He chuckled. I shook my head as he stumbled forward. Bruce staggered around the corner, gasping for breath as he did so.

"They... they're here..." He gasped out. The girls appeared behind him, Mercury and Moon helped him into the room. "Thank you, Sir... You truly are the best among us. None of us could fight off the ruby, but you did... I... I'm sorry... for everything... that we put you through..."

"Don't sweat it, Bruce." I replied. "That's what friends are for, isn't it? To make each other's lives as complicated as humanly possible?" He chuckled which led into a case of hacking coughs and wheezes. "Rest easy you two. I'll be here waiting for you when you get back, and don't think I'm gonna take it easy on you either. You got soft in this go round, next time, I'mma drill you two so hard your grand kids will be born with side stitch cramps." They laughed and coughed some more.

"Can't... wait... Sir..." Tyrone chuckled before collapsing to the ground with one last gasp of breath, his body crumbling to dust.

"Say hi to Greg for me." I whispered as I watched both Tyrone and Bruce disintegrate in front of me. Usagi and Ami had already gone to work on Rei, using their combined knowledge and powers to heal her wounds as best they could. It took a couple of hours, but eventually, Rei was sleeping peacefully and the two girls were exhausted. I had found some containers on board the vessel and began collecting the dust from the five fallen warriors. The girls all looked at me strangely.

"It's a custom where I come from, some people choose to be burned instead of buried." I explained as I sat the containers in a row on a shelf in what had been deemed to be my room. "We collect their ashes and keep them in memory of those who left us behind."

"You guys have some really weird customs, you know that?" Minako said.

"I think it's kinda cool." Mamoru replied. I nodded before turning back to face them.

"So, how do we get back home now?" I asked. The girls looked at each other.

"We can teleport, but not without Rei." Usagi answered.

"I think we can help you there." A group of men in black suits appeared in the corridor just outside of my room. "My name is Cornelius Hoffman, I'm the new Commander of the Agency of Light." A young agent in the front of the line explained. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Simpleton, though you'll have to excuse me, it's a bit strange shaking the hand of the man who used to be my boss."

"Imagine how strange it is to watch yourself die." I replied. He cut a short laugh and nodded.

"Don't think I could if I tried. In any case, we can tow this thing back to Earth for you, we've already got a site for it and everything. I believe your house was due for some renovations?" He asked me.

"You're gonna bury this thing under my house?" I asked. He nodded simply.

"Seems to be the most efficient way to dispose of it. Besides, Mr. Simpleton, there are other threats out there. Including that rogue Agent Jackson..." My eyes widened, I'd forgotten about him, he'd escaped. "We have coordinates of his last know heading, it seems his gone to enlist the aide of the remnants of our darker half, The Dark Agency." Minako stepped forward.

"That's impossible, I wiped them out more than decade ago." She stated.

"Not true. You wiped out their Earth detachment, just like us, though, they've got branches all over the multi-verse, and one of them seems to have been drawn here."

"We'll be ready for them..." Rei's voice announced from the hallway. The sea of agents parted, allowing her to walk into the room. Her chest was covered by bandage wrappings, as was the majority of her body, with the remnants of her clothing on top of them.

"That's we were hoping to hear." Agent Hoffman replied. "You have our sincerest apologies for all the trouble we've caused you, our stance has always been to never directly interfere with these kinds of things. We're primarily a coalition built around the gathering of knowledge and the preservation of worlds. This world was in risk of dying, Mr. Simpleton. Sailor Moon was a smash hit and that popularity kept the world going in the hearts and minds of it's fans, which, in turn, guarantees it's survival in reality. That popularity began dying off and waning, which is why you were brought here. We needed something to re-spark the interest..."

"A spin off?" I asked, my brows furrowed. He nodded.

"Precisely, Mr. Simpleton. As long as a world continues producing heart-felt characters, plots, and events, the people of the Prime World, the world you came from, will continue to believe in that world, and it will remain in existence." He handed me a gift-wrapped box. "Many people from the Prime World have sacrificed themselves for the sake of preserving these... alternate... realities. This is the fruit of your contribution." I opened the box and widened my eyes. It was an anime boxed set.

"Commander Ares and the Knights of Sol, season one?" I asked with a chuckle. "I have my own anime?"

"Absolutely, and that anime is scheduled to hit the mainstream market in the United States and Great Brittain in just a few months. We're keeping tabs on it, to make sure the dubbing goes well."

"Wow..." I said as Rei walked up beside me and smiled, wrapping her arms around me. "So, you guys brought me to this world, gave me the chance at the girl of my dreams, gave me the powers I'd always wished I'd had, and now you've given me an anime? Is there a downside?"

"Not yet. But you might not feel the same way when General Shenlong approaches." Agent Hoffman replied. "Oh, and by the way, sorry about this, but it's procedure." He pulled out a small pen like device and clicked it, discharging an enormous cloud of smoke into the air. Instantly, we all began coughing and hacking, feeling extremely light headed and then drowsy. "You're not allowed to remember that any of this conversation occurred. Enjoy your new life, Mr. Simpleton." He said before walking away as my eyes drifted closed. I put my last ounce of effort into shifting my body so that Rei fell on top of me instead of the other way around, and then everything faded to black.


	26. An Epilogue

"Commander Hoffman, we've carried out the orders as you requested." The agent said, approaching Hoffman's desk. "Are you sure that it won't upset the balance, Sir?"

"I'm positive. Our heroes have suffered a great deal on our behalf, Agent White." Hoffman replied with a sigh as he lit a cigar and leaned back in his chair. "If providing them with just a tiny bit of comfort and happiness, regardless of how short lived it may be, if that's all we can do to repay them, then it is completely worth whatever sacrifices must be made to pay it."

"The wedding is coming up soon, Sir. Do you have plans to attend?" Agent White asked, glancing down the clipboard in his curled arm, and running down a list with a pen.

"Not physically, but I think we can watch from afar before leaving."

"Leaving, Sir?" He asked. "We're abandoning the mission?" Agent White asked.

"We're not abandoning anything, Agent White, our work here is done. The heroes have been instated, they've been given their paths and the means to achieve their goals. Anything further we could do would constitute direct intervention."

"I see. And what about Shenlong and Jackson?" Agent White asked.

"I feel a great deal of pity for Jackson and Shenlong when they finally get the gumption to attack that world, White. A great deal of pity indeed. Call it foresight, call it deja vu, but I feel as though Shenlong has already lost this battle."

"Alright men, here we are, Planet Earth." A man in a Chinese-style fighting uniform spoke. His face was elderly sporting a wrinkled brow just beneath his head full of long, jet black hair. That hair was braided into a long, thick rope that he wrapped around his neck twice like a necklace, his dark eyes piercing the crowd of monstrosities that stood in rows before him, slobbering, snapping jaws indicating their eagerness to invade and destroy. "The conquering of this world has been thwarted by a single Senshi in the past, and now they have fifteen warriors defending this place. Our objectives will require a lot of energy to complete, so we will begin here..." He pointed to a spot on the globe indicating the United States. "... this is the least defended position on the planet, we can likely invade without encountering much resistance. Once we've established a stronghold there and secured further resources, our invasion effort will be focused to the East."

"I can't wait." Jackson growled, standing beside the man, Jackson's body had seen better days. Scars lined his exposed chest and abdomen. His arms had been replaced with cybernetically enhanced prosthetics, as had his left eye and ear. Electricity arced across his body as the anticipation of the battle with his most hated nemesis filled him to the brim.

"Patience, my loyal lap dog. You will have the first battle against Commander Ares, as I promised. But we must move with stealth and finesse. Trust me... I have a certain person that I'm looking forward to crushing as well." He reached inside of his shirt and began rubbing the crescant shaped burn scar on his right pectoral. "And crush them we shall. ALL HAIL THE DARK AGENCY!"

"HAIL!" Came the thundering and unanimous response from all in attendance.

The air was sweet and ripe with scent of white roses and freshly cut grass. The sun decided to bless the day with it's brilliant light, leaving the sky a brilliant shade of light blue with only the occasional thin wisp of white as the few clouds it permitted to exist slipped by virtually undetectable. The scene took place on a hill top, a white, trellised archway covering the podium where the minister stood, clad in a long white robe, holding the bible in one hand and motioning with the other as he spoke. The two figures stood in front of him, a man dressed in a crimson and gold tuxedo with purple trim throughout, his blond hair styled neatly and parted down the left side of his head. He faced a woman dressed in a silk gown of luxurious design. It matched his tuxedo perfectly, her purple-tinted eyes peering up at him with a love-struck expression glinting brightly inside of them.

In front of the arch way, rows of white, wooden, folding chairs were set up and filled to capacity with various guests, some familiar, some less than familiar. Lining the walkway in front of them were four bridesmaids on the left, and four groomsmen on the right. The people in attendance included not only Rei's father, but my parents as well, who had, after we'd spent a few days talking about some things, insisted on paying for the whole thing and arranging it, though they'd found some inspiration located in a few of my old notebooks. Mamoru stood opposite Usagi as my best man, with Greg, Bruce, and Tyrone lined up behind him. It was hard to imagine that it had been a year since my arrival in Tokyo, and it had been just as difficult to acclimate my parents and my friends as it had been for me to acclimate myself. Sufficient to say that my parents no longer thought I was crazy, I think their contributions to the wedding was viewed more as an apology than anything else. It didn't matter to me, though, the day was better than I could ever have imagined it to be, and it was only going to get better.

"I now pronounce you Husband and Wife. Alexander, you may kiss your bride." I stepped forward, unable to contain the smile on my face as I gently lifted the lace veil from her face before tilting her chin up and pressing my lips to hers in what would be the first kiss of many in our new life together. It felt even better than any other kiss we'd shared up to that point and upon parting, the priest smiled and lifted his hands. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I present Alexander and Rei Simpleton." The crowd released an enormous round of applause as the driver, on cue, pulled the horse-drawn carriage up to the right of the arch. A hailstorm of rice rained down on the two of us as we bolted for the carriage and rode off to find out exactly what the future had in store for us.

Sound like a good ending? Heh, I'd love nothing more than to end this story with that age old cliché 'happily ever after', but sadly it wasn't that simple. Things in life never are. As we rode off under that brightly shining sun that rode it's golden chariot through the crystal blue sky, a greater darkness loomed just over the horizon, poised to strike it's venomous fangs once again into the world that we all knew and loved. The world that we were all willing to die to defend. Would it come to that? All life ends, that's a given. It no longer mattered to me what enemies laid in wait around life's next corner though, because when my life finally ended, it would end with a smile on my face and peace in my heart.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This marks the end of this particular story. However, the spark of my fandom has been reignited and there will be others on the way. I want to thank everyone for reading and (hopefully ^^;;;) enjoying this fanfiction, and I hope to see you all reading the others that I post in the near future. Arigatou Gozaimasu *bows deeply*


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